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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 6, 2019

Registration No. 333-            

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

FREQUENCY THERAPEUTICS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware   2834   47-2324450

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

19 Presidential Way, 2nd Floor

Woburn, MA 01801

(866) 389-1970

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

David L. Lucchino

President and Chief Executive Officer

Frequency Therapeutics, Inc.

19 Presidential Way, 2nd Floor

Woburn, MA 01801

(866) 389-1970

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

Copies to:

 

John Chory, Esq.

Nathan Ajiashvili, Esq.

Latham & Watkins LLP

200 Clarendon Street

Boston, MA 02116

(617) 948-6000

 

Arthur D. Robinson, Esq.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

425 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10017

(212) 455-2000

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:

As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box.  

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer      Accelerated filer      Non-accelerated filer      Smaller reporting company  
         Emerging growth company  

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 

Title of Each Class of

Securities To Be Registered

 

Proposed

Maximum

Aggregate

Offering Price(1)

 

Amount of

Registration Fee(2)

Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share

  $100,000,000   $12,120

 

 

 

(1)   Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Includes the aggregate offering price of additional shares that the underwriters have the option to purchase.

 

(2)   Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(o) based on an estimate of the proposed maximum aggregate offering price.

 

 

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


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The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

Subject to completion, dated September 6, 2019

Preliminary prospectus

             shares

 

LOGO

Common stock

This is Frequency Therapeutics, Inc.’s initial public offering of common stock. We are selling              shares of our common stock.

We expect the public offering price to be between $         and $         per share. Currently, no public market exists for the shares. We have applied to list our common stock on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “FREQ.”

We are an “emerging growth company” under the federal securities laws and are subject to reduced public company disclosure standards. See “Prospectus summary—Implications of being an emerging growth company.”

Investing in our common stock involves risks that are described in the section titled “Risk factors” beginning on page 11 of this prospectus.

 

     
        Per share        Total  

Public offering price

     $                      $                        

Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)

     $          $    

Proceeds to us, before expenses

     $          $    

 

 

 

(1)   We refer you to the section titled “Underwriting” beginning on page 169 for additional information regarding underwriting compensation.

The underwriters may also exercise their option to purchase up to an additional              shares from us, at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, for 30 days after the date of this prospectus.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The shares will be ready for delivery on or about                     , 2019.

 

J.P. Morgan    Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC    Cowen

Mizuho Securities

                    , 2019


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Table of contents

 

     Page  

Prospectus summary

     1  

Risk factors

     11  

Special note regarding forward-looking statements

     62  

Industry and other data

     64  

Use of proceeds

     65  

Dividend policy

     67  

Capitalization

     68  

Dilution

     70  

Selected consolidated financial data

     73  

Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations

     75  

Business

     94  

Management

     129  

Executive and director compensation

     136  

Certain relationships and related party transactions

     149  

Principal stockholders

     153  

Description of capital stock

     155  

Shares eligible for future sale

     161  

Material U.S. federal income tax consequences to non-U.S. holders

     164  

Underwriting

     169  

Legal matters

     177  

Experts

     177  

Where you can find more information

     177  

Index to financial statements

     F-1  

 

 

We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectuses prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the shares of common stock offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus or in any applicable free writing prospectus is current only as of its date, regardless of its time of delivery or any sale of shares of our common stock. Our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may have changed since that date.

Through and including                 , 2019 (25 days after the commencement of this offering), all dealers effecting transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This delivery requirement is in addition to the obligation of dealers to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

 

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We have proprietary rights to trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this prospectus that are important to our business. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, trade names and service marks may appear in this prospectus without the ® and TM symbols, but any such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we forgo or will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these trademarks, trade names and service marks. All trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners.

For investors outside the United States: We have not, and the underwriters have not, done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.

 

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Prospectus summary

This summary highlights, and is qualified in its entirety by, the more detailed information and financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. This summary does not contain all of the information that may be important to you in making your investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the section titled “Risk factors” beginning on page 11 and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus before deciding to invest in our common stock.

As used in this prospectus, unless the context otherwise requires, references to “we,” “us,” “our,” “the company,” “our company,” “FREQ,” and “Frequency Therapeutics” refer to the consolidated operations of Frequency Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on harnessing the body’s innate biology to repair or reverse damage caused by a broad range of degenerative diseases. Our proprietary approach, called Progenitor Cell Activation, or PCA, uses combinations of small molecules to activate progenitor cells within the body to create functional tissue. Further, these progenitor cells, which are closely related to stem cells, are already resident in the targeted location in the body and programmed to develop and differentiate into specific cell types within an organ. Our initial therapeutic focus is sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL, and we believe our PCA platform has the potential to produce a new class of medicines and provide transformative benefits for patients across a wide range of degenerative conditions, including multiple sclerosis, or MS, and diseases of the muscle, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and bone. We intend to continue to identify areas with high unmet need where our PCA platform and novel approach to regenerative medicine could lead to potentially disease-modifying therapeutics that create healthy functional tissues and improve patients’ lives.

We are developing our lead product candidate, FX-322, to treat the underlying cause of SNHL. SNHL is the most prevalent type of hearing loss, typically caused by permanent loss of sensory hair cells in the cochlea within the ear. No drug therapies have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, or, to our knowledge, by other regulatory bodies, for the treatment of SNHL. We believe that FX-322 has the potential to meaningfully improve overall hearing function through the activation of progenitor cells already present in the cochlea to regenerate hair cells. According to the World Health Organization, more than 800 million adults suffer from hearing loss worldwide and according to the National Institutes of Health, more than 90% of people with hearing loss have SNHL. Based on our estimates, we believe that 59 million people in the United States alone have SNHL.

We have completed a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of FX-322 in 23 patients with stable SNHL in which we observed a statistically significant improvement in word recognition, a key measure of hearing function, and FX-322 was observed to be well tolerated. We intend to commence a Phase 2a clinical trial in approximately 96 SNHL patients in the fourth quarter of 2019 and expect to report top-line data from this trial in the second half of 2020. We have submitted an application for Fast-Track Designation for FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL in adults to the FDA. In July 2019, we entered into a license and collaboration agreement, or the Astellas Agreement, with Astellas Pharma, Inc., or Astellas, pursuant to which Astellas is responsible for the development and commercialization of FX-322 outside of the United States. Astellas has agreed to make an upfront payment to us of $80.0 million. We may also receive up to an additional $545.0 million based on development and commercial milestones, as well as royalties on any future product sales.

In a second program using our PCA platform, we are working to identify a product candidate for the treatment of MS. This program focuses on activating progenitor cells in the central nervous system to repair the myelin

 

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sheath that protects nerves and may have the potential to reverse damage done by the disease. We intend to submit an investigational new drug application, or IND, to the FDA for an MS product candidate in the second half of 2021.

Our product pipeline

The following table summarizes our PCA therapeutic candidate pipeline and discovery research programs:

 

 

LOGO

We are also using our PCA platform to explore the potential development of therapeutic candidates in diseases of the muscle, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and bone.

Our PCA platform

We are pioneering a new class of small-molecule therapeutics designed to activate progenitor cells already present within the body to create healthy functioning tissues and organs. We believe that our preclinical and clinical studies in SNHL have validated the potential of our PCA platform to provide a new approach to regenerative medicine.

We believe that our PCA approach bypasses the challenges presented by stem cell therapies by utilizing small-molecule therapeutics to temporarily reactivate progenitor cells that are already located at the tissue target site within the body and are pre-programmed to make specific cell types. Our proprietary small-molecule therapeutics are designed to activate key genes in a progenitor cell, which enable it to go through asymmetric division, leaving behind a copy of the progenitor cell as well as a functional cell, such as a cochlear hair cell, as illustrated in the figure below. This asymmetric division process is commonly used during the natural development and repair of tissues.

 

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Our approach: Progenitor cell activation within the body

 

LOGO

Our discoveries in regenerative medicine allow us to activate the innate and under-utilized capabilities of progenitor cells. We believe our PCA platform represents a transformative step in the evolution of regenerative medicine by providing the following key attributes:

 

 

Activates progenitor cells in the right location. We avoid the major challenge of delivering and integrating cells into the proper location within tissue by using our small molecules to activate the body’s own progenitor cells at the desired location in targeted tissues.

 

 

Enables ease of manufacturing. We do not need to remove and grow live cells ex vivo, which may be costly and complex to manufacture, difficult to control quality, and may pose potential safety risks.

 

 

Avoids permanent genetic changes. Instead of altering genes, our small molecules are designed to temporarily activate the native genes that play a central role in the development of organs and tissues, potentially creating a disease-modifying or restorative effect without changing the body’s genetic code.

Our team and history

Our company was founded in 2014 with the goal of creating medicines based on breakthrough research focused on activating the body’s regenerative potential. In their groundbreaking research, Professors Robert S. Langer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Jeffrey Karp at Harvard Medical School decoded the natural signals between cells that make the intestine one of the most regenerative organs in the body through the continuous activation of progenitor cells. Recognizing that similar progenitor cells were present but inactive in other organs, they discovered how to adapt these natural signals using small molecules to temporarily activate progenitor cells in other organs, including the cochlea, and create a localized healing response. Using these insights, we are developing FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL and have identified several additional potential indications for our PCA platform. Our leadership team includes experienced biotech executives David L. Lucchino, our Chief Executive Officer, Christopher R. Loose, our Chief Scientific Officer, Carl P. LeBel, our Chief

 

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Development Officer, and Will McLean, Vice President of Regenerative Medicine and a pioneer in inner ear stem cell biology. We have also assembled a world-class team of leaders in regenerative biology, otology, drug development, and drug delivery. Our Clinical Advisory Board and Regenerative Medicine Advisory Board members are at the forefront of scientific discovery on the activation of progenitor cells.

Strategy

We intend to create and commercialize therapeutics to potentially transform the lives of patients by repairing or reversing damage done to cells, tissue, and organs. To do so, we are implementing the following strategies:

 

 

Advance development of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL.

 

 

Establish our position as a leader in the field of hearing function to drive the optimization of our PCA approach for the treatment of hearing loss.

 

 

Expand the opportunities of our PCA platform beyond hearing loss with the goal of delivering new therapeutics in additional indications such as multiple sclerosis as well as diseases of the muscle, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and bone.

 

 

Continue to build strategic collaborative relationships to maximize the potential of our PCA platform to create new therapies for patients.

Sources of capital

To date, we have raised approximately $228.0 million in capital primarily through a combination of convertible preferred stock financings, including our Series C convertible preferred stock financing in July 2019 and an upfront payment under the Astellas Agreement. In July 2019, we issued and sold to investors in a private placement 39,492,960 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $62.0 million, which was led by new investors Perceptive Advisors, Deerfield Management, RTW Investments, and Mizuho Securities Principal Investment.

Risks associated with our business

Our business is subject to a number of risks that you should be aware of before making an investment decision. You should carefully consider all of the information set forth in this prospectus and, in particular, should evaluate the specific factors set forth in the section titled “Risk factors” in deciding whether to invest in our common stock. Among these important risks are the following:

 

 

We have a limited operating history, have incurred significant losses since inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future. We are not currently profitable, and we may never achieve or sustain profitability. If we are unable to achieve or sustain profitability, the market value of our common stock will likely decline.

 

 

We are heavily dependent on the success of FX-322, our lead product candidate, which is still under clinical development. If FX-322 does not receive regulatory approval or is not successfully commercialized, our business will be materially adversely harmed.

 

 

We utilize our PCA platform to develop product candidates that are designed to activate progenitor cells, which is a new approach to therapeutic intervention and, as a result, successful development, approval, and commercialization of our product candidates, including FX-322, is uncertain.

 

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Clinical trials are expensive, time consuming, and difficult to design and implement, and involve an uncertain outcome. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials are not always predictive of future results. Any drug candidate that we advance into clinical trials may not achieve favorable results in later clinical trials, if any, or receive marketing approval.

 

 

The regulatory approval processes of the FDA are lengthy, time consuming, and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for FX-322 or any other product candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.

 

 

We may not be successful in our efforts to identify additional product candidates. Due to our limited resources and access to capital, we must prioritize development of certain product candidates, the choice of which may prove to be wrong and adversely affect our business.

 

 

If we fail to comply with our obligations under our existing licenses for intellectual property and any future licenses, we could lose rights that are important to our business, including rights related to our PCA platform and FX-322.

 

 

Even if this offering is successful, we will require additional capital to fund our operations, and if we fail to obtain necessary financing, we may not be able to complete the development and commercialization of our product candidates.

 

 

We face significant competition from biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.

Corporate information

We were incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware in November 2014. Our principal executive offices are located at 19 Presidential Way, Woburn, Massachusetts 01801 and our telephone number is (866) 389-1970. Our corporate website address is www.frequencytx.com. The information contained in, or accessible through, our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and you should not consider information on our website to be a part of this prospectus. We have included our website address in this prospectus solely as an inactive textual reference.

Implications of being an emerging growth company

As a company with less than $1.07 billion in revenue during our last fiscal year, we qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, as amended, or the JOBS Act. An “emerging growth company” may take advantage of reduced reporting requirements that are otherwise applicable to public companies. These provisions include, but are not limited to:

 

 

the option to present only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of related “Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations” in this prospectus;

 

 

not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended;

 

 

not being required to comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (i.e., an auditor discussion and analysis);

 

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reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports, proxy statements and registration statements; and

 

 

exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

We may take advantage of these provisions until the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering. However, if any of the following events occur prior to the end of such five-year period, (i) our annual gross revenue exceeds $1.07 billion, (ii) we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt in any three-year period or (iii) we become a “large accelerated filer” (as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act), we will cease to be an emerging growth company prior to the end of such five-year period. We will be deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” at such time that we (a) have an aggregate worldwide market value of common equity securities held by non-affiliates of $700.0 million or more as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, (b) have been required to file annual and quarterly reports under the Exchange Act, for a period of at least 12 months and (c) have filed at least one annual report pursuant to the Exchange Act.

Even after we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, we may still qualify as a “smaller reporting company,” which would allow us to take advantage of many of the same exemptions from disclosure requirements including reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this prospectus and our periodic reports and proxy statements.

We have elected to take advantage of certain of the reduced disclosure obligations in the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and may elect to take advantage of other reduced reporting requirements in future filings. As a result, the information that we provide to our stockholders may be different than you might receive from other public reporting companies in which you hold equity interests.

In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. We have elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards; and as a result of this election, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates.

 

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The offering

 

Common stock offered by us

             shares

 

Common stock to be outstanding after this offering

             shares (or              shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full).

 

Option to purchase additional shares

The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to             additional shares of our common stock at the public offering price less estimated underwriting discounts and commissions.

 

Use of proceeds

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from this offering will be approximately $        million (or approximately $        million if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares of common stock), assuming an initial public offering price of $        per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and the estimated offering expenses payable by us. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to advance the clinical development of FX-322 and our PCA platform and for working capital and general corporate purposes. See “Use of proceeds” beginning on page 65 for additional information.

 

Risk factors

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk factors” beginning on page 11 and the other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should consider carefully before deciding to invest in our common stock.

 

Proposed Nasdaq Global Market symbol

“FREQ”

 

 

The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering is based on 164,657,098 shares of our common stock outstanding as of July 31, 2019, and excludes:

 

 

29,027,880 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options outstanding pursuant to our 2014 Stock Incentive Plan, or the Existing Plan, as of July 31, 2019, at a weighted-average exercise price of $0.33 per share;

 

 

             shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options granted after July 31, 2019 pursuant to our Existing Plan;

 

 

             shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance pursuant to our 2019 Incentive Award Plan, or the 2019 Plan, which will become effective in connection with this offering, and shares of our common stock that become available pursuant to provisions in the 2019 Plan that automatically increase the share reserve under the 2019 Plan as described in the section titled “Executive and director compensation—Incentive compensation plans—2019 incentive award plan”; and

 

 

             shares of our common stock that will become available for future issuance under our 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or the 2019 ESPP, which will become effective in connection with this offering, and

 

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shares of our common stock that become available pursuant to provisions in the 2019 ESPP that automatically increase the share reserve under the 2019 ESPP as described in the section titled “Executive and director compensation—Incentive compensation plans—2019 employee stock purchase plan.”

Unless otherwise indicated, this prospectus reflects and assumes the following:

 

 

a             -for-            reverse stock split of our common stock to be effected prior to the closing of this offering;

 

 

the conversion of all outstanding shares of our Series A, B, and C convertible preferred stock and the preferred stock of Frequency Japan K.K., or Frequency Japan, into 148,704,534 shares of our common stock and the forfeiture of all outstanding shares of our Series A-1 and B-1 preferred stock upon the closing of this offering;

 

 

no exercise of the outstanding stock options referred to above;

 

 

no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock; and

 

 

the filing of our restated certificate of incorporation and the effectiveness of our amended and restated bylaws upon the closing of this offering.

 

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Summary consolidated financial data

The following tables set forth a summary of our financial data as of and for the periods ended on the dates indicated. We have derived the summary statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 from our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have derived the consolidated statement of operations data for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of June 30, 2019 from our unaudited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus, which have been prepared on the same basis as the audited consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited data reflects all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the financial information in those statements. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected in any future period, and our results for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for any full year. You should read the following summary financial data together with our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus and the sections titled “Selected consolidated financial data” and “Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations” of this prospectus.

 

     
     Year ended December 31,     Six months ended June 30,  
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)    2017     2018     2018     2019  

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
                 (unaudited)  

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:

        

Revenue

   $     $     $     $  

Operating expenses:

        

Research and development

     11,966       11,880       5,409       7,367  

General and administrative

     4,340       7,064       3,153       5,568  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

     16,306       18,944       8,562       12,935  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (16,306     (18,944     (8,562     (12,935

Interest income

                       218  

Interest expense

     (174     (106     (32      

Realized gain on investments

                       26  

Loss on extinguishment of debt

     (3,749     (269            

Foreign exchange gain (loss)

     (8     151       9       13  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss and net loss attributable to common stockholders

   $ (20,237   $ (19,168   $ (8,585)     $ (12,678)  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted(1)

   $ (4.27   $ (1.86   $ (0.90   $ (0.99
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, basic and diluted(1)

     4,734,504       10,306,785       9,574,528       12,811,539  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted (unaudited)(2)

     $ (0.24     $ (0.10
    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Pro forma weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, basic and diluted (unaudited)(2)

       81,235,290         122,023,113  
    

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1)   See Note 17 to our audited consolidated financial statements and Note 13 to our unaudited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for further explanation and details of the method used to calculate the basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock and the weighted-average number of shares used in the computation of the per share amounts.

 

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(2)   The pro forma basic and diluted weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding used in the calculation of unaudited pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders is computed using the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding after giving effect to the conversion of all Series A and B convertible preferred stock and the preferred stock of Frequency Japan into shares of common stock and the forfeiture of all outstanding shares of our Series A-1 and B-1 preferred stock, as if such conversion and forfeiture had occurred at the beginning of the period presented, or the date of issuance, if later. The information presented in this table does not give effect to the sale and issuance of shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock in July 2019. See Note 17 to our audited consolidated financial statements and Note 13 to our unaudited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for a further explanation and details of the method used to calculate the unaudited pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock and the weighted-average number of shares used in the computation of the pro forma per share amounts.

 

   
     As of June 30, 2019  
(in thousands)    Actual     Pro forma(2)      Pro forma as
adjusted(3)(4)
 
     (unaudited)  

Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:

       

Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments

   $ 31,509     $ 157,509      $                

Working capital(1)

     27,952       73,952     

Total assets

     35,004       161,004     

Total liabilities

     5,145       85,145     

Convertible preferred stock and non-controlling interest

     88,974           

Accumulated deficit

     (61,766     (77,766   

Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity

     (59,115     75,859     

 

 

 

(1)   We define working capital as current assets less current liabilities. See our unaudited consolidated financial statements to be included elsewhere in this prospectus for further details regarding our current assets and current liabilities.

 

(2)   The unaudited pro forma consolidated balance sheet data gives effect to (i) the sale and issuance of 39,492,960 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock in July 2019 for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $62.0 million, (ii) the receipt of an upfront payment of $80.0 million pursuant to the terms of the Astellas Agreement, (iii) the satisfaction of the royalty payment of $16.0 million owed to MIT upon the receipt of the upfront payment under the Astellas Agreement, and (iv) the conversion of all outstanding shares of our Series A, B, and C convertible preferred stock and the preferred stock of Frequency Japan into an aggregate of 148,704,534 shares of common stock and the forfeiture of all outstanding shares of our Series A-1 and B-1 preferred stock, which will occur upon the closing of this offering.

 

(3)   Reflects the pro forma adjustments described in footnote (2) and the sale and issuance of              shares of common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $        per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

 

(4)   Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $        per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ (deficit) equity by $        million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each increase or decrease of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase or decrease each of cash, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ (deficit) equity by approximately $        million, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. The pro forma as adjusted information discussed above is illustrative only and will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other final terms of this offering.

 

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Risk factors

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations,” before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations. This prospectus also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. See “Special note regarding forward-looking statements.” Our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including those set forth below.

Risks related to our financial position and need for additional capital

We have incurred significant losses since inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future. We are not currently profitable, and we may never achieve or sustain profitability. If we are unable to achieve or sustain profitability, the market value of our common stock will likely decline.

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a limited operating history. As a result, we are not profitable and have incurred significant losses since our formation. We had net losses of $20.2 million, $19.2 million and $12.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 and the six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively. As of June 30, 2019, we had an accumulated deficit of $61.8 million. Investment in biopharmaceutical product development is highly speculative because it entails substantial upfront capital expenditures and significant risk that any potential product candidate will fail to gain regulatory approval and become commercially viable. We have not commercialized any products and have never generated revenue from the commercialization of any product. To date, we have devoted most of our financial resources to licensing technologies and research and development, including our preclinical platform development activities and clinical trials.

We expect to incur significant additional operating losses for the next several years, at least, as we advance FX-322 and any other product candidate through clinical development, complete clinical trials, seek regulatory approval and commercialize FX-322 or any other product candidate, if approved. The costs of advancing product candidates into each clinical phase tend to increase substantially over the duration of the clinical development process. Therefore, the total costs to advance any product candidate to marketing approval in even a single jurisdiction are substantial. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with pharmaceutical product development, we are unable to accurately predict the timing or amount of increased expenses or when, or if, we will be able to begin generating revenue from the commercialization of any product candidates or achieve or maintain profitability. Our expenses will also increase substantially if and as we:

 

 

commence our Phase 2a trial of FX-322 in sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL;

 

 

expand our development programs based on our progenitor cell activation, or PCA, platform, including our program for a treatment for multiple sclerosis, and develop other product candidates;

 

 

continue to develop our PCA platform;

 

 

seek regulatory approvals for FX-322 and any other product candidates;

 

 

expand the target indications and patient population for FX-322;

 

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secure a commercial manufacturing source and supply chain capacity sufficient to produce commercial quantities of any product candidate for which we obtain regulatory approval;

 

 

establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, if approved, and for any other product candidates for which we may obtain marketing approval;

 

 

maintain, expand, and protect our intellectual property portfolio;

 

 

hire additional clinical, scientific, and commercial personnel;

 

 

add operational, financial, and management personnel, including personnel to support our product development and planned future commercialization efforts, as well as to support our transition to a public company; and

 

 

acquire or in-license other product candidates or technologies.

Furthermore, our ability to successfully develop, commercialize and license any product candidates and generate product revenue is subject to substantial additional risks and uncertainties, as described under “—Risks related to development, clinical testing, manufacturing, and regulatory approval” and “—Risks related to commercialization.” As a result, we expect to continue to incur net losses and negative cash flows for the foreseeable future. These net losses and negative cash flows have had, and will continue to have, an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital. The amount of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of future growth of our expenses and our ability to generate revenues. If we are unable to develop and commercialize one or more product candidates, either alone or through collaborations, or if revenues from any product that receives marketing approval are insufficient, we will not achieve profitability. Even if we successfully commercialize FX-322, we may continue to incur substantial research and development and other expenses to identify and develop other product candidates. Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain profitability or meet outside expectations for our profitability. If we are unable to achieve or sustain profitability or to meet outside expectations for our profitability, the value of our common stock will be materially adversely affected.

Even if this offering is successful, we will require additional capital to fund our operations, and if we fail to obtain necessary financing, we may not be able to complete the development and commercialization of FX-322 and additional product candidates.

We expect to spend substantial amounts to complete the development of, seek regulatory approvals for and, if approved, commercialize FX-322. These expenditures will include costs related to the Phase 2a trial of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, and, if the Phase 2a trial is supportive, a planned Phase 2b trial of FX-322, and any additional trials we conduct to support the development of FX-322. In addition, we are obligated to make milestone and royalty payments in connection with the sale of resulting products and licensing revenues under our license agreements with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, and the Scripps Research Institute, or Scripps. We also expect to spend substantial amounts to identify and develop new product candidates based on our PCA platform.

Even with the net proceeds from this offering, we will require additional capital to enable us to develop additional product candidates based on our PCA platform, which we may acquire through equity offerings, debt financings, marketing and distribution arrangements and other collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements or other sources. Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. Our failure to raise capital as and when needed would have a negative effect on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategy. In addition, attempting to secure additional financing may divert the time and attention of our management from day-to-day activities and harm our development efforts.

 

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Based upon our current operating plan, we believe that the net proceeds from this offering and our existing cash and cash equivalents will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements until                . This estimate and our expectation regarding the sufficiency of the net proceeds from this offering to advance the clinical development of FX-322 and any other product candidates are based on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect, or our clinical trials, including our Phase 2a trial of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, may be more expensive, time consuming or difficult to design or implement than we currently anticipate. Changing circumstances, including any unanticipated expenses, could cause us to consume capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to spend more than currently expected because of circumstances beyond our control. Because the length of time and scope of activities associated with successful development of FX-322 or any product candidate we may develop is highly uncertain, we are unable to estimate the actual funds we will require for development and any marketing and commercialization activities. Our future funding requirements, both near and long-term, will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to:

 

 

the initiation, progress, timing, costs and results of our clinical trials through all phases of development, including the Phase 2a trial for FX-322 and the development of any other product candidates;

 

 

the outcome, timing and cost of meeting regulatory requirements established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities, including any additional clinical trials required by the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities;

 

 

the willingness of the FDA and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities to accept our clinical trial designs, as well as data from our completed and planned clinical trials and preclinical studies, as the basis for review and approval of FX-322 and any other product candidates;

 

 

the cost of filing, prosecuting, defending, and enforcing our patent claims and other intellectual property rights;

 

 

the cost of defending potential intellectual property disputes, including patent infringement actions brought by third parties against us;

 

 

the effect of competing technological and market developments;

 

 

the cost and timing of completion of commercial-scale manufacturing activities;

 

 

the costs of operating as a public company;

 

 

the cost of making royalty, milestone or other payments under current and any future in-license agreements;

 

 

the extent to which we in-license or acquire other product candidates or technologies;

 

 

the cost of establishing sales, marketing and distribution capabilities for our product candidates, if approved;

 

 

our ability to maintain our collaborations on favorable terms and establish new collaborations; and

 

 

the initiation, progress, and timing of our commercialization of FX-322, if approved, or any other product candidate.

If we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of FX-322 or any other product candidate, or potentially discontinue operations.

 

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Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, including purchasers of common stock in this offering, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial revenues, we may finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, marketing and distribution arrangements and other collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements or other sources. We do not currently have any committed external source of funds. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe that we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.

To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. In addition, debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may be required to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, intellectual property, future revenue streams or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. Furthermore, any capital raising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to advance research programs, product development activities or product candidates. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate product candidate development or future commercialization efforts.

We have a limited operating history and no history of commercializing pharmaceutical products, which may make it difficult to evaluate the prospects for our future viability.

We were established and began operations in 2014. Our operations to date have been limited to financing and staffing our company, licensing technologies, developing our PCA platform, developing and conducting preclinical and clinical studies of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, and developing a pipeline of preclinical and research programs, including our program for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, or MS. We have not yet demonstrated the ability to successfully complete a large-scale, pivotal clinical trial, obtain marketing approval, manufacture a commercial-scale product, or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. Consequently, predictions about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or a history of successfully developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products.

In addition, as a business with a limited operating history, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown challenges. We will eventually need to transition from a company with a research focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be successful in such a transition and, as a result, our business may be adversely affected.

As we continue to build our business, we expect our financial condition and operating results may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, you should not rely upon the results of any particular quarterly or annual period as indicative of future operating performance.

Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.

As of December 31, 2018, we had net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, of $39.3 million for federal income tax purposes and $31.7 million for state income tax purposes, which may be available to offset our future

 

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taxable income, if any. Our NOLs begin to expire in various amounts in 2036, provided that NOLs generated after December 31, 2017 will not be subject to expiration. As of December 31, 2018, we also had federal and state research and development and other tax credit carryforwards of approximately $0.7 million and $0.4 million, respectively, available to reduce future tax liabilities. Our tax credit carryforwards expire at various dates through 2038. These NOLs and tax credit carryforwards could expire unused, to the extent subject to expiration, and be unavailable to offset future income tax liabilities. In addition, in general, under Sections 382 and 383 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” is subject to limitations on its ability to use its pre-change NOLs and tax credit carryforwards to offset future taxable income. For these purposes, an ownership change generally occurs where the aggregate stock ownership of one or more stockholders or groups of stockholders who owns at least 5% of a corporation’s stock increases its ownership by more than 50 percentage points over its lowest ownership percentage within a specified testing period. We believe we have experienced an ownership change in the past, and may experience ownership changes in the future as a result of future transactions in our stock, some of which may be outside our control. If we undergo an ownership change in connection with or after this offering, our ability to use our NOLs and tax credit carryforwards could be further limited. For these reasons, we may not be able to use a material portion of our NOLs or tax credit carryforwards, even if we attain profitability. We have recorded a full valuation allowance related to our NOLs and other deferred tax assets due to the uncertainty of the ultimate realization of the future tax benefits of such assets. The reduction of the corporate tax rate under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or TCJA, from 35% to 21% may cause a reduction in the economic benefit of our NOLs and other deferred tax assets available to us. Furthermore, under the TCJA, although the treatment of tax losses generated before December 31, 2017 has generally not changed, tax losses generated in calendar year 2018 and beyond will only be able to offset 80% of taxable income. This change may require us to pay federal income taxes in future years despite generating a loss for federal income tax purposes in prior years.

Risks related to development, clinical testing, manufacturing, and regulatory approval

We are heavily dependent on the success of FX-322, our lead product candidate, which is still under clinical development, and if FX-322 does not receive regulatory approval or is not successfully commercialized, our business will be materially adversely harmed.

To date, we have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the development of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL. Our future success is substantially dependent on our ability to successfully complete clinical development for, obtain regulatory approval for, and successfully commercialize FX-322, which may never occur. We currently have no products that are approved for commercial sale and may never be able to develop a marketable product. We expect that a substantial portion of our efforts and expenditures over the next few years will be devoted to FX-322, which will require additional clinical development, management of clinical and manufacturing activities, regulatory approval, establishing commercial scale manufacturing, and significant sales, marketing, and distribution efforts before we can generate any revenues from any commercial sales. We cannot be certain that we will be able to successfully complete any of these activities or that, even if it receives regulatory approval, FX-322 will be as effective as anticipated at treating SNHL.

The research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, approval, sale, packaging, marketing, and distribution of drug products are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and comparable regulatory authorities in other countries. We are not permitted to market FX-322 in the United States until we receive approval of a New Drug Application, or NDA, from the FDA, or in any foreign countries until our collaborator, Astellas, receives the requisite approval from such countries. We have not submitted an NDA to the FDA and Astellas has not submitted comparable applications to other regulatory authorities for FX-322. We or Astellas may not be in a

 

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position to do so for several years, if ever. If we or Astellas are unable to obtain the necessary regulatory approval for FX-322 in a particular country, we or Astellas will not be able to commercialize FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL in that country. As a result, our financial position will be materially adversely affected and we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to continue our business.

We utilize our PCA platform to develop product candidates that are designed to activate progenitor cells, which is a new approach to therapeutic intervention and, as a result, successful development, approval, and commercialization of our product candidates, including FX-322, is uncertain.

We utilize our PCA platform to develop product candidates, including FX-322, for the treatment of SNHL. Our PCA platform is designed to identify pathways to activate progenitor cells already present in the body to treat conditions or diseases through cellular regeneration. We have not, nor to our knowledge has any other company, received regulatory approval utilizing this mechanism of cellular regeneration. Given the novelty of our approach, we could encounter a longer than expected regulatory review process, increased development costs, or unexpected delays in, or even prevention of, the regulatory approval and commercialization of our product candidates, and we cannot be certain that our approach will lead to the development of any approvable or marketable products. For example, the FDA-approved treatment options available for patients with SNHL are hearing aids and cochlear implants. Unlike FX-322, which is a therapeutic that targets the underlying biology of SNHL, these treatment options are medical devices that are designed to target the symptoms of SNHL. As a result, these treatment options are not directly comparable to FX-322, and FDA requirements for marketing authorization of these treatment options may not be relevant for FX-322. While we are developing what we believe are appropriate measurements of efficacy for FX-322, we cannot be certain that the FDA will agree with our measurements or that they will be sufficient for approval. If we were to encounter any of the foregoing, our business and financial prospects could be materially harmed.

Clinical trials are expensive, time consuming, and difficult to design and implement, and involve an uncertain outcome. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials are not always predictive of future results. Any drug candidate that we advance into clinical trials may not achieve favorable results in later clinical trials, if any, or receive marketing approval.

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. The results of preclinical studies and completed clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of future results, and any product candidates we develop may not be further developed or have favorable results in later studies or trials. Clinical trial failure may result from a multitude of factors, including, but not limited to, flaws in study design, dose selection, placebo effect, patient enrollment criteria, selection of patients based on patient misrepresentations, and failure to demonstrate favorable safety or efficacy traits. As such, failure in clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry have suffered setbacks in the advancement of their drug candidates into later-stage clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding favorable results in earlier preclinical studies or clinical trials. Based upon negative or inconclusive results or a need for additional information, we may decide, or regulatory authorities may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or preclinical studies.

We may experience delays in initiating and completing any clinical trials that we intend to conduct, and we do not know whether planned clinical trials, including our Phase 2a trial for FX-322, will begin on time, need to be redesigned, enroll patients on time, or be completed on schedule, or at all. Clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including delays related to:

 

 

the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities disagreeing as to the design or implementation of our clinical studies;

 

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obtaining regulatory approval to commence a trial;

 

 

reaching an agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations, or CROs, and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites;

 

 

obtaining Institutional Review Board, or IRB, approval at each site within the United States, or Independent Ethics Committee, or IEC, approval at sites outside the United States;

 

 

recruiting suitable patients to participate in a trial in a timely manner and in sufficient numbers;

 

 

having patients complete a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;

 

 

imposition of a clinical hold by regulatory authorities, including as a result of unforeseen safety issues or side effects or failure of trial sites or investigators to adhere to regulatory requirements or follow trial protocols;

 

 

clinical sites deviating from the trial protocol or dropping out of a trial;

 

 

addressing patient safety concerns that arise during the course of a trial;

 

 

adding a sufficient number of clinical trial sites; or

 

 

manufacturing sufficient quantities of a product candidate for use in clinical trials.

We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, the IRBs or IECs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, the FDA or other regulatory authorities, or recommended for termination by a Data and Safety Monitoring Board, or DSMB, for such trial. Such authorities may impose a suspension or termination or recommend an alteration due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions, or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.

Furthermore, we rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials and, while we have agreements governing their committed activities, we have limited influence over their actual performance, as described in the section titled “—Risks related to our dependence on third parties.”

Our lead product candidate, FX-322, is still in development and will require the successful completion of one, and possibly more, Phase 3 trials before we are prepared to submit an NDA for regulatory approval by the FDA. We cannot predict with any certainty if or when we might complete the development of FX-322 and submit an NDA for regulatory approval by the FDA of FX-322 or whether any such NDA will be approved by the FDA.

If we experience delays in the commencement or completion of any clinical trials, or if we terminate a clinical trial prior to completion, the commercial prospects of any product candidate we develop could be harmed, and our ability to generate revenues may be delayed. In addition, any delays in our clinical trials could increase our costs, slow the development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, many of the factors that may cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.

Principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and receive compensation in connection with such services. Under certain circumstances, we may be

 

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required to report some of these relationships to the FDA. The FDA may conclude that a financial relationship between us and a principal investigator has created a conflict of interest or otherwise affected interpretation of a clinical trial. The FDA may therefore question the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site, and the utility of the clinical trial itself may be jeopardized. This could result in a delay in approval, or rejection, of our marketing applications by the FDA and may ultimately lead to the denial of marketing approval of a product candidate.

The regulatory approval processes of the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities are lengthy, time- consuming, and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for FX-322 or any other product candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.

The time required to obtain approval by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. In addition, approval policies, regulations, or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during a product candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions. We have not obtained regulatory approval for any product candidate and it is possible that we will never obtain regulatory approval for any product candidate. We are not permitted to market any of our product candidates in the United States until we receive approval of an NDA from the FDA.

Prior to obtaining approval to commercialize a product candidate in the United States or abroad, we must demonstrate with substantial evidence from well-controlled clinical trials, and to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority, that such product candidates are safe and effective for their intended uses. In addition, data obtained from preclinical trials and clinical trials are susceptible to varying interpretations, and regulatory authorities may not interpret our data as favorably as we do, which may further delay, limit, or prevent development efforts, clinical trials, or marketing approval. Furthermore, as more competing drug candidates within a particular class of drugs proceed through clinical development to regulatory review and approval, the amount and type of clinical data that may be required by regulatory authorities may increase or change. Even if we believe the preclinical or clinical data for our product candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA and other comparable regulatory authorities.

The FDA or any foreign regulatory authority can delay, limit, or deny approval of FX-322 or any other product candidates that we develop or require us to conduct additional preclinical or clinical testing or abandon a program for many reasons, including:

 

 

the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;

 

 

we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product candidate is safe and effective for its proposed indication;

 

 

serious and unexpected drug-related side effects experienced by participants in our clinical trials or by individuals using drugs similar to our product candidates, or other products containing an active ingredient in our product candidates;

 

 

negative or ambiguous results from our clinical trials or results that may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;

 

 

we may be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;

 

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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical trials;

 

 

the data collected from clinical trials of our product candidates may not be acceptable or sufficient to support the submission of an NDA or other submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere, and we may be required to conduct additional clinical trials;

 

 

the FDA’s or the applicable foreign regulatory authority’s disagreement regarding the formulation, the labeling, and/or the specifications of our product candidates;

 

 

the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve or find deficiencies with the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and

 

 

the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.

Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage successfully complete the regulatory approval processes and are commercialized. This lengthy approval process, as well as the unpredictability of future clinical trial results, may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates, which would significantly harm our business, results of operations, and prospects.

In addition, the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory authority also may approve a product candidate for a more limited indication or patient population than we originally requested, and the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory authority may approve a product candidate with a label that does not include the labeling claims necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of that product candidate. Any of the foregoing circumstances could materially harm the commercial prospects for our product candidates and our business.

Enrollment and retention of patients in clinical trials is an expensive and time-consuming process and could be made more difficult or rendered impossible by multiple factors outside our control.

The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the study until its conclusion. We may encounter delays in enrolling, or be unable to enroll, a sufficient number of patients to complete any of our clinical trials, and even once enrolled, we may be unable to retain a sufficient number of patients to complete any of our trials.

Patient enrollment and retention in clinical trials depends on many factors, including:

 

 

the patient eligibility criteria defined in the protocol;

 

 

the size of the patient population required for analysis of the trial’s primary endpoints;

 

 

the nature of the trial protocol;

 

 

the existing body of safety and efficacy data with respect to the product candidate;

 

 

the proximity of patients to clinical sites;

 

 

our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;

 

 

clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs or medical devices that may be approved for the indications we are investigating;

 

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competing clinical trials being conducted by other companies or institutions;

 

 

our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents; and

 

 

the risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the trials before completion.

In addition, our clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for product candidates and medical devices that are in the same therapeutic areas as our product candidates, and this competition will reduce the number and types of patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors. Furthermore, any negative results we may report in clinical trials of any product candidate may make it difficult or impossible to recruit and retain patients in other clinical trials of that same product candidate. Delays or failures in planned patient enrollment or retention may result in increased costs or program delays, which could have a harmful effect on our ability to develop a product candidate or could render further development impossible.

Results of preclinical studies, clinical trials, or analyses may not be indicative of results obtained in later trials.

The results of preclinical studies, clinical trials, or analyses of the results from such trials, including our prospective and post hoc analyses of the data from the Phase 1/2 trial of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, may not be predictive of the results of later clinical trials. Product candidates in later clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through preclinical studies and prior clinical trials or having shown promising results based on analyses of data from earlier trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding earlier promising results. In addition, conclusions based on promising data from analyses of clinical results, such as the prospective and post hoc analysis of results from our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, may be shown to be incorrect in subsequent clinical trials that have pre-specified end points or may not be considered adequate by regulatory authorities. Even if we complete later clinical trials as planned, we cannot be certain that their results will support the safety and efficacy requirements sufficient to obtain regulatory approval, and, as a result, our clinical development plans may be materially harmed.

Interim and preliminary “top-line” data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.

From time to time, we may publish interim or preliminary “top-line” data from our clinical studies. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Preliminary data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data previously published. In addition, we may report interim or preliminary analyses of only certain endpoints rather than all endpoints. Furthermore, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on more extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is the material or otherwise appropriate information to disclose. Any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed significant with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities, or otherwise regarding a particular drug, drug candidate, or our business. Others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions, or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of particular programs, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidates, and our business in general. As a result, interim and preliminary data and analyses should be viewed with caution. Adverse differences between preliminary or interim data and final data or changes in what

 

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is material information regarding the results from a particular study or clinical trial could significantly harm our clinical development and business prospects and cause volatility in the price of our common stock.

Any product candidate that we develop or the administration thereof, may cause serious adverse events or undesirable side effects, which may halt their clinical development, delay or prevent marketing approval, or, if approved, require them to be taken off the market, include safety warnings, or otherwise limit their sales.

Serious adverse events or undesirable side effects caused by any product candidate we develop could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay, or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Results of any clinical trial we conduct could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects. To date, subjects treated with FX-322 have experienced adverse events that include ear discomfort and ear pain that are considered to be associated with the intratympanic injection procedure.

If unacceptable side effects arise in the development of any product candidate, we, the FDA, or the IRBs or IECs at the institutions in which our studies are conducted, or the DSMB, if constituted for our clinical trials, could recommend a suspension or termination of our clinical trials, or the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of or deny approval of a product candidate for any or all targeted indications. In addition, drug-related side effects could affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete a trial or result in potential product liability claims. In addition, these side effects may not be appropriately recognized or managed by the treating medical staff. We may have to train medical personnel regarding the proper administration protocol for our product candidates and to understand the side effect profiles for our clinical trials and upon any commercialization of any of our product candidates. Inadequate training in recognizing or managing the potential side effects of our product candidates could result in patient injury or death. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition, and prospects significantly.

Additionally, if FX-322 or any other product candidate we develop receives marketing approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such products, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

 

 

regulatory authorities may suspend, withdraw, or limit approvals of such product, or seek an injunction against its manufacture or distribution;

 

 

regulatory authorities may require us to recall a product or we may decide to initiate a voluntary recall of a product;

 

 

regulatory authorities may require additional warnings on the label, such as a “black box” warning or contraindication;

 

 

additional restrictions may be imposed on the marketing of the product or the manufacturing processes for the product or any component thereof;

 

 

we may be required to implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, or create a medication guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients;

 

 

we may be required to conduct post-market studies or agree to postmarketing commitments;

 

 

we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;

 

 

the product may become less competitive; and

 

 

our reputation may suffer.

 

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Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of a product candidate, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results of operations, and prospects.

Changes in funding for the FDA and other government agencies could hinder their ability to hire and retain key leadership and other personnel, or otherwise prevent new products and services from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner, which could negatively impact our business.

The ability of the FDA to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, and statutory, regulatory, and policy changes. Average review times at the agency have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of other government agencies that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.

Disruptions at the FDA and other agencies may also slow the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed or approved by necessary government agencies, which would adversely affect our business. For example, over the last several years, including for 35 days beginning on December 22, 2018, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, have had to furlough critical employees and stop critical activities. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We may not be successful in our efforts to identify additional product candidates. Due to our limited resources and access to capital, we must prioritize development of certain product candidates, the choice of which may prove to be wrong and adversely affect our business.

Although we intend to explore additional product candidates based on our PCA platform, we may fail to identify viable new product candidates for clinical development for several reasons. If we fail to identify additional potential product candidates, our business could be materially harmed.

Research programs to develop additional product candidates based on our PCA platform require substantial technical, financial, and human resources whether or not they are ultimately successful. Our research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential indications or product candidates, yet fail to yield results for clinical development for several reasons, including:

 

 

the research methodology used may not be successful in identifying potential indications or product candidates;

 

 

potential product candidates may, after further study, be shown to have harmful or unexpected adverse effects or other characteristics that indicate they are unlikely to be effective drugs; or

 

 

it may take greater human and financial resources than we possess to identify additional therapeutic opportunities for our product candidates or to develop suitable potential product candidates through internal research programs, thereby limiting our ability to develop, diversify, and expand our product portfolio.

Because we have limited financial and human resources, we intend to initially focus on research programs and product candidates for a limited set of indications. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that could have greater commercial potential or a greater likelihood of success. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities.

Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will ever be able to identify additional therapeutic opportunities for our product candidates or to develop suitable potential product candidates through internal research

 

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programs, which could materially adversely affect our future growth and prospects. For example, we may encounter delays in the process of selecting a product candidate for the treatment of MS and we may not achieve the time line we currently anticipate for submitting an IND. We may focus our efforts and resources on potential product candidates or other potential programs that ultimately prove to be unsuccessful.

The market opportunities for FX-322, if approved, may be smaller than we anticipate and, as a result, our commercial opportunity may be limited.

We expect to initially seek approval of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL. Our projections of the number of eligible patients are based on our beliefs and estimates. These estimates have been derived from a variety of sources, including scientific literature, patient foundations, and market research, and may prove to be incorrect. Further, new sources may reveal a change in the estimated number of eligible patients, and the number of patients may turn out to be lower than expected. Additionally, the potentially addressable patient population for our current programs or future product candidates may be limited. For example, even if we obtain FDA approval for FX-322, it may be approved for a target population that is more limited than what we currently anticipate. Even if we obtain significant market share for any product candidate, if approved, if the potential target populations are smaller, we may never achieve profitability without obtaining marketing approval for additional indications.

We have never obtained marketing approval for a product candidate and we may be unable to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approval for any product candidate.

We have never obtained marketing approval for a product candidate. It is possible that the FDA may refuse to accept for substantive review any NDAs that we submit for our product candidates or may conclude after review of our data that our applications are insufficient to obtain marketing approval of our product candidates. We believe our approach of activating progenitor cells to treat conditions or diseases through cellular regeneration is novel and, as a result, the process for, and the outcome of, FDA approval is especially uncertain. If the FDA does not accept or approve our NDAs for our product candidates, it may require that we conduct additional clinical, preclinical, or manufacturing validation studies and submit that data before it will reconsider our applications. Depending on the extent of these or any other FDA-required studies, approval of any NDA that we submit may be delayed, or may require us to expend more resources than we have available. It is also possible that additional studies, if performed and completed, may not be considered sufficient by the FDA to approve our NDAs.

Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, marketing approvals would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates, generating revenues, and achieving and sustaining profitability. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for our product candidates, which could significantly harm our business.

Even if we obtain FDA approval for a product candidate in the United States, we or our collaborators may never obtain approval for or commercialize the product candidate in any other jurisdiction, which would limit our ability to realize its full market potential.

In order to market any product in a particular jurisdiction, we or our collaborators must establish and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements regarding safety and efficacy on a country-by-country basis. Approval by the FDA in the United States does not ensure approval by comparable regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions. However, the failure to obtain approval in one jurisdiction may negatively impact our or our collaborators’ ability to obtain approval elsewhere. In addition, clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not guarantee regulatory approval in any other country.

Approval processes vary among countries and can involve additional product testing and validation and additional administrative review periods. Seeking foreign regulatory approval could result in difficulties and

 

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increased costs for us and require additional preclinical studies or clinical trials which could be costly and time- consuming. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in those countries. We do not have any product candidates approved for sale in any jurisdiction, including in international markets, and we do not have experience in obtaining regulatory approval in international markets. If we or our collaborators fail to comply with regulatory requirements in international markets or to obtain and maintain required approvals, or if regulatory approvals in international markets are delayed, our target market will be reduced and we will be unable to realize the full market potential of any product we develop.

Even if we obtain regulatory approval for any product candidate, we will still face extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements and obligations, which may result in significant additional expense, and any product candidates, if approved, may face future development and regulatory difficulties.

Any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval, along with the manufacturing processes, post-approval clinical data, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, recordkeeping, export, import, and advertising and promotional activities for such product, among other things, will be subject to extensive and ongoing requirements of and review by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, establishment registration and drug listing requirements, continued compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, requirements relating to manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance, and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping and Good Clinical Practice, or GCP, and requirements for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval.

Even if marketing approval of a product candidate is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product candidate may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, including a requirement to implement a REMS. If a product candidate receives marketing approval, the accompanying label may limit the approved indicated use of the product, which could limit sales of the product. The FDA may also require costly post-marketing studies or clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of a product. The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure drugs are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. The FDA imposes stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label use, and if we market our products for uses beyond their approved indications, we may be subject to enforcement action for off-label marketing. Violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, relating to the promotion of prescription drugs, may lead to FDA enforcement actions and investigations alleging violations of federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, as well as state consumer protection laws.

In addition, later discovery of previously unknown adverse events or other problems with our products, manufacturers, or manufacturing processes or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:

 

 

restrictions on manufacturing such products;

 

 

restrictions on the labeling or marketing of products;

 

 

restrictions on product distribution or use;

 

 

requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials;

 

 

warning letters or untitled letters;

 

 

refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications that we submit;

 

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recalls or market withdrawals of products;

 

 

fines, restitution, or disgorgement of profits or revenues;

 

 

suspension or withdrawal of marketing approvals;

 

 

refusal to permit the import or export of our products;

 

 

product seizure; or

 

 

injunctions, consent decrees, or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

Further, the FDA’s policies may change, and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit, or delay regulatory approval of a product candidate. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, and ability to achieve or sustain profitability.

We also cannot predict the likelihood, nature, or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad. The policies of the FDA and of other comparable regulatory authorities may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit, or delay regulatory approval of a product candidate. For example, certain policies of the current presidential administration may impact our business and industry. Namely, the current presidential administration has taken several executive actions, including the issuance of a number of Executive Orders, that could impose significant burdens on, or otherwise materially delay, the FDA’s ability to engage in routine regulatory and oversight activities such as implementing statutes through rulemaking, issuance of guidance, and review and approval of marketing applications. These executive actions and other policies of the current administration may impact the FDA’s ability to exercise its regulatory authority, though the extent to which they will impact the development of FX-322 or other product candidates is unknown. If these executive actions impose constraints on the FDA’s ability to engage in oversight and implementation activities in the normal course, our business may be negatively impacted. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained, and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations. Furthermore, non compliance by us or any collaborator with regulatory requirements, including safety monitoring or pharmacovigilance, may also result in significant financial penalties, which would adversely affect our business.

We intend to seek Fast Track designation for FX-322, but we might not receive such designation, and even if we do, such designation may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.

If a drug is intended for the treatment of a serious condition and nonclinical or clinical data demonstrate the potential to address an unmet medical need for this condition, a drug sponsor may qualify for FDA Fast Track designation. We have submitted an application for Fast Track designation for FX-322. The FDA has broad discretion whether to grant this designation, and we may not receive it. Moreover, even if we receive Fast Track designation, Fast Track designation does not ensure that we will receive marketing approval or that approval will be granted within any particular time frame. We may not experience a faster development or regulatory review or approval process with Fast Track designation compared to conventional FDA procedures. In addition, the FDA may withdraw Fast Track designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program. Fast Track designation alone does not guarantee qualification for the FDA’s priority review procedures.

 

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We may seek a Breakthrough Therapy designation for FX-322, but we might not receive such designation, and even if we do, such designation may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.

We may seek a Breakthrough Therapy designation for FX-322 if future results support such designation. A Breakthrough Therapy is defined as a drug that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. For drugs that have been designated as breakthrough therapies, interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor of the trial can help to identify the most efficient path for clinical development while minimizing the number of patients placed in ineffective control regimens. Drugs designated as breakthrough therapies by the FDA may also be eligible for priority review if supported by clinical data at the time the NDA is submitted to the FDA.

Designation as a Breakthrough Therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe that FX-322 meets the criteria for designation as a Breakthrough Therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. Even if we receive Breakthrough Therapy designation, the receipt of such designation may not result in a faster development or regulatory review or approval process compared to drugs considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even if FX-322 qualifies as a breakthrough therapy, the FDA may later decide that it no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.

Potential product liability lawsuits against us could cause us to incur substantial liabilities and limit commercialization of any products that we may develop.

The use of any product candidate we may develop in clinical trials and the sale of any products for which we obtain marketing approval exposes us to the risk of product liability claims. Product liability claims might be brought against us by patients, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies or others selling or otherwise coming into contact with our products. On occasion, large judgments have been awarded in class action lawsuits based on drugs that had unanticipated adverse effects. If we cannot successfully defend against product liability claims, we could incur substantial liability and costs. In addition, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, product liability claims may result in:

 

 

impairment of our business reputation and significant negative media attention;

 

 

withdrawal of participants from our clinical trials;

 

 

significant costs to defend the litigation;

 

 

distraction of management’s attention from our primary business;

 

 

substantial monetary awards to patients or other claimants;

 

 

inability to commercialize a product candidate;

 

 

product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions;

 

 

decreased market demand for any product; and

 

 

loss of revenue.

The product liability insurance we currently carry, and any additional product liability insurance coverage we acquire in the future, may not be sufficient to reimburse us for any expenses or losses we may suffer. Moreover,

 

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insurance coverage is becoming increasingly expensive and, in the future, we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses due to liability. If we obtain marketing approval for any product candidate, we intend to acquire insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products; however, we may be unable to obtain product liability insurance on commercially reasonable terms or in adequate amounts. A successful product liability claim, or series of claims, brought against us could cause our share price to decline and, if judgments exceed our insurance coverage, could adversely affect our results of operation and business, including preventing or limiting the commercialization of any product candidates we develop.

Risks related to commercialization

We face significant competition from biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies, and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.

The biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries are highly competitive and subject to significant and rapid technological change. Our success is highly dependent on our ability to acquire, develop, and obtain marketing approval for new products on a cost-effective basis and to market them successfully. If a product candidate we develop is approved, we will face intense competition from a variety of businesses, including large, fully-integrated pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies, and early-stage companies, particularly if the early-stage company has a collaborative arrangement with a large and established company. We are aware of several companies developing products to treat SNHL through the regeneration of hair cells, and we also anticipate that new companies will enter the SNHL market in the future. If we successfully develop and, if approved, commercialize FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, it may compete, or potentially be used in conjunction, with currently marketed devices, including the hearing aids and cochlear implants currently available and the next generation of improved hearing aids and cochlear implants, and any new therapies that may become available in the future.

Competition could render any product candidate we develop obsolete, less competitive, or uneconomical. Our competitors may, among other things:

 

 

have significantly greater name recognition and financial, manufacturing, marketing, product development, technical, and human resources than we do, with mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries resulting in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors;

 

 

more effectively recruit and retain qualified scientific and management personnel;

 

 

more effectively establish clinical trial sites and patient registration;

 

 

develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, less expensive, more convenient, or easier to administer, or have fewer or less severe side effects;

 

 

obtain quicker regulatory approval;

 

 

better protect their patents and intellectual property or acquire technologies that are complementary to, or necessary for, our programs;

 

 

implement more effective approaches to sales, marketing, pricing, coverage, and reimbursement; or

 

 

form more advantageous strategic alliances or collaborations.

If we are not able to effectively compete for any of the foregoing reasons, our business will be materially harmed.

 

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The successful commercialization of any product candidate we develop will depend in part on the extent to which governmental authorities and health insurers establish adequate coverage, reimbursement levels, and pricing policies. Failure to obtain or maintain coverage and adequate reimbursement for our product candidates, if approved, could limit our or our collaborators’ ability to market those products and decrease our or our collaborators’ ability to generate revenue.

The availability and adequacy of coverage and reimbursement by governmental healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, private health insurers, and other third-party payors are essential for most patients to be able to afford prescription medications. Our ability to achieve acceptable levels of coverage and reimbursement for products or procedures using our products by governmental authorities, private health insurers and other organizations will influence our ability to successfully commercialize any product candidates we develop. Obtaining adequate coverage and reimbursement for any product candidate we develop that is administered under the supervision of a physician, which is what we anticipate for FX-322, may be particularly difficult because of the higher prices associated with such products. In addition, we believe that FX-322 is a novel approach to treating hearing loss and, as a result, availability of coverage and reimbursement by payors is highly uncertain. A decision by a third-party payor not to cover or separately reimburse for our products or procedures using our products could reduce physician utilization of our products once approved. Assuming we obtain coverage for our product candidates or procedures using our products by a third-party payor, the resulting reimbursement payment rates may not be adequate or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. We cannot be sure that coverage and reimbursement in the United States or elsewhere will be available for any product we commercialize, and any reimbursement that may become available may be decreased or eliminated in the future.

Third-party payors increasingly are challenging prices charged for pharmaceutical products and services, and the current presidential administration and both Houses of Congress have introduced several proposals related to drug pricing. Many third-party payors may refuse to provide coverage and reimbursement for particular drugs or biologics when an equivalent generic drug, biosimilar, or a less expensive therapy is available. Although there are currently no FDA approved drugs for the treatment of SNHL, it is possible that a third-party payor may consider FX-322 or any other product candidate we commercialize as substitutable and only offer to reimburse patients for the less expensive product. Even if we show improved efficacy, pricing of existing drugs may limit the amount we will be able to charge for any product we commercialize. Payors may deny or revoke the reimbursement status of a given product or establish prices for new or existing marketed products at levels that are too low to enable us to realize a satisfactory return on our investment in our product candidates. If reimbursement is not available or is available only at limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may not be able to obtain a satisfactory financial return on our product candidates. Additionally, our ability to obtain a satisfactory financial return depends on what, if any, proposals related to drug pricing may be implemented and, if implemented, when they might take effect.

There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. In the United States, third-party payors, including private and governmental payors, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs, play an important role in determining the extent to which new drugs and biologics will be covered. The Medicare and Medicaid programs increasingly are used as models in the United States for how private payors and other governmental payors develop their coverage and reimbursement policies for drugs and biologics. Some third-party payors may require pre-approval of coverage for new or innovative devices or drug therapies before they will reimburse healthcare providers who use such therapies. It is difficult to predict at this time what third-party payors will decide with respect to the coverage and reimbursement for our product candidates.

No uniform policy for coverage and reimbursement for products exists among third-party payors in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for products can differ significantly from payor to payor, and

 

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one third-party payor’s decision to cover a particular product does not ensure that other payors will also provide similar coverage. Additionally, the process for determining whether a third-party payor will provide coverage for a product is typically separate from the process for setting the price of such product or establishing the reimbursement rate that the payor will pay for the product once coverage is approved. As a result, the determination of coverage and reimbursement is often a time-consuming and costly process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our product candidates to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. Furthermore, rules and regulations regarding reimbursement change frequently, in some cases at short notice, and we believe that changes in these rules and regulations are likely.

Moreover, increasing efforts by governmental and third-party payors in the United States to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage and the level of reimbursement for newly approved products and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for any product we commercialize. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of our product candidates due to the trend toward managed health care, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations, and additional legislative, administrative, or regulatory changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription drugs and biologics and surgical procedures and other treatments, has become intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products.

We or our collaborators may also be subject to extensive governmental price controls and other market regulations outside of the United States, and we believe the increasing emphasis on cost-containment initiatives in other countries have and will continue to put pressure on the pricing and usage of medical products. In many countries, the prices of medical products are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. Other countries allow companies to fix their own prices for medical products, but monitor and control company profits. Additional foreign price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we or our collaborators are able to charge for products we or our collaborators commercialize. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the reimbursement for products we or our collaborators commercialize may be reduced compared with the United States and may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenue and profits.

Even if a product candidate we develop receives marketing approval, it may fail to achieve market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, or others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.

If a product candidate we develop receives marketing approval, it may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, and others in the medical community. If it does not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenues or become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved, will depend on several factors, including, but not limited to:

 

 

the efficacy and potential advantages compared to alternative treatments;

 

 

effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts;

 

 

the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments, including any similar generic treatments;

 

 

our ability to offer our products for sale at competitive prices;

 

 

the convenience and ease of administration compared to alternative treatments;

 

 

the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies and of physicians to prescribe these therapies;

 

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the strength of marketing and distribution support;

 

 

the availability of third-party coverage and adequate reimbursement;

 

 

the prevalence and severity of any side effects; and

 

 

any restrictions on the use of our product together with other medications.

Because we expect sales of our product candidates, if approved, to generate substantially all our revenues for the foreseeable future, the failure of our product candidates to find market acceptance would harm our business and could require us to seek additional financing.

If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing any product candidate we develop, if approved.

In order to market and successfully commercialize any product candidate we develop, if approved, we must build our sales and marketing capabilities or enter into collaborations with third parties for these services. We currently have no sales, marketing or distribution capabilities and as a company have no experience in marketing products. We intend to directly market and commercialize FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, if approved, in the United States by developing our own sales and marketing force, targeting ear, nose, and throat doctors and audiologists. There are significant expenses and risks involved with establishing our own sales and marketing capabilities, including our ability to hire, train, retain, and appropriately incentivize a sufficient number of qualified individuals, generate sufficient sales leads and provide our sales and marketing team with adequate access to physicians who may prescribe our product, effectively manage a geographically dispersed sales and marketing team, and other unforeseen costs and expenses. Any failure or delay in the development of a product candidate that affects the expected timing of commercialization of the product candidate or results in the failure of the product candidate to be commercialized could result in us having prematurely or unnecessarily incurred costly commercialization expenses. Our investment would be lost if we are unable to retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel.

We may also enter into collaborations for the sales and marketing of our product candidates, if approved. To the extent that we depend on collaborators for sales and marketing activities, any revenues we receive will depend upon the success of those collaborators’ sales and marketing teams and the collaborators’ prioritization of our product and compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, and there can be no assurance that the collaborators’ efforts will be successful. For example, under the Astellas Agreement, we will depend on Astellas to sell and market FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, if approved, outside of the United States, and we can have no assurance that it will be successful in its efforts or devote sufficient resources to the sale and marketing of FX-322.

If we are unable to build our own sales and marketing team or enter into a collaboration for the commercialization of product candidates we develop, if approved, we may be forced to delay the commercialization of our product candidates or reduce the scope of our sales or marketing activities, which would have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and prospects.

A variety of risks associated with operating internationally could materially adversely affect our business.

Our business strategy includes potentially expanding internationally if any of our product candidates receive regulatory approval. Doing business internationally involves several risks, including, but not limited to:

 

 

multiple, conflicting, and changing laws and regulations, such as privacy regulations, tax laws, export and import restrictions, economic sanctions laws and regulations, employment laws, regulatory requirements, and other governmental approvals, permits, and licenses;

 

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failure by us to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for the use of our products in various countries;

 

 

additional potentially relevant third-party patent rights;

 

 

complexities and difficulties in obtaining protection and enforcing our intellectual property;

 

 

difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;

 

 

complexities associated with managing multiple payor reimbursement regimes, government payors, or patient self-pay systems;

 

 

limits in our ability to penetrate international markets;

 

 

financial risks, such as longer payment cycles, difficulty collecting accounts receivable, the impact of local and regional financial crises on demand and payment for our products, and exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations;

 

 

natural disasters, political and economic instability, including wars, terrorism and political unrest, outbreak of disease, boycotts, curtailment of trade, and other business restrictions;

 

 

certain expenses, including, among others, expenses for travel, translation, and insurance; and

 

 

regulatory and compliance risks that relate to maintaining accurate information and control over sales and activities that may fall within the purview of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or the FCPA, its books and records provisions, or its anti-bribery provisions, as well as other applicable laws and regulations prohibiting bribery and corruption.

Any of these factors could significantly harm any future international expansion and operations and, consequently, our results of operations.

Risks related to our dependence on third parties

The Astellas Agreement is important to our business. If we or Astellas fail to adequately perform under the Astellas Agreement, or if we or Astellas terminate the Astellas Agreement, the development and commercialization of FX-322 for SNHL outside the United States would be materially delayed and our business would be adversely affected.

Under the Astellas Agreement, Astellas is responsible for the development and commercialization of FX-322 outside of the United States and we are responsible for development and commercialization in the United States. We and Astellas are jointly responsible for conducting global clinical studies and coordinating commercial launch activities. Astellas has agreed to make an upfront payment to us of $80.0 million. We may also receive up to an additional $545.0 million based on development and commercial milestones, as well as double-digit royalties on any future product sales in the licensed territory.

Termination of the Astellas Agreement could cause significant delays in our development and commercialization efforts for FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL outside of the United States. If the Astellas Agreement is terminated, we would need to expand our internal capabilities or enter into another agreement to compensate for the loss in funding and clinical development support from Astellas. Any suitable alternative agreement would take considerable time to negotiate and could also be on less favorable terms to us. Whether or not we identify another suitable collaborator, we may need to seek additional financing to continue the development of FX-322, or we may be forced to discontinue development of FX-322, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

 

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We intend to continue to collaborate with third parties for the development and commercialization of our product candidates. We may not succeed in establishing and maintaining collaborations, which may significantly limit our ability to successfully develop and commercialize our other product candidates, if at all.

We have entered into the Astellas Agreement for the development and commercialization of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL outside the United States and may seek collaborations for the development and commercialization of other product candidates. The process of establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships is difficult, time-consuming, and involves significant uncertainty, such as:

 

 

a collaborator may shift its priorities and resources away from our product candidates due to a change in business strategies, or a merger, acquisition, sale, or downsizing;

 

 

a collaborator may seek to renegotiate or terminate its relationships with us due to unsatisfactory clinical results, manufacturing issues, a change in business strategy, a change of control or other reasons;

 

 

a collaborator may cease development in therapeutic areas which are the subject of our collaboration;

 

 

a collaborator may not devote sufficient capital or resources towards our product candidates, or may fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements;

 

 

a collaborator may change the success criteria for a product candidate, thereby delaying or ceasing development of such candidate;

 

 

a significant delay in initiation of certain development activities by a collaborator will also delay payment of milestones tied to such activities, thereby impacting our ability to fund our own activities;

 

 

a collaborator could develop a product that competes, either directly or indirectly, with our product candidate;

 

 

a collaborator with commercialization obligations may not commit sufficient financial resources or personnel to the marketing, distribution, or sale of a product;

 

 

a collaborator with manufacturing responsibilities may encounter regulatory, resource, or quality issues and be unable to meet demand requirements;

 

 

a collaborator may terminate a strategic alliance;

 

 

a dispute may arise between us and a collaborator concerning the research, development, or commercialization of a product candidate resulting in a delay in milestones or royalty payments or termination of the relationship and possibly resulting in costly litigation or arbitration, which may divert management’s attention and resources; and

 

 

a collaborator may use our products or technology in such a way as to invite litigation from a third party.

If any collaborator fails to fulfill its responsibilities in a timely manner, or at all, our research, clinical development, manufacturing, or commercialization efforts related to that collaboration could be delayed or terminated, or it may be necessary for us to assume responsibility for expenses or activities that would otherwise have been the responsibility of our collaborator. If we are unable to establish and maintain collaborations on acceptable terms or to successfully transition away from terminated collaborations, we may have to delay or discontinue further development of one or more of our product candidates, undertake development and commercialization activities at our own expense, or find alternative sources of capital, which would have a material adverse impact on our clinical development plans and business.

 

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Our employees and independent contractors, including principal investigators, CROs, consultants, vendors, and any third parties we may engage in connection with development and commercialization may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our employees and independent contractors, including principal investigators, CROs, consultants, vendors, and any third parties we may engage in connection with development and commercialization of our product candidates, could engage in misconduct, including intentional, reckless, or negligent conduct or unauthorized activities that violate applicable laws, rules, and regulations including: the laws and regulations of the FDA or other similar regulatory requirements of other authorities, including those laws that require the reporting of true, complete, and accurate information to such authorities; manufacturing standards; data privacy, security, fraud and abuse, and other healthcare laws and regulations; or laws that require the reporting of true, complete, and accurate financial information and data. Specifically, sales, marketing, and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing, and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs, and other business arrangements. Activities subject to these or other laws could also involve the improper use or misrepresentation of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, creation of fraudulent data in preclinical studies or clinical trials, or illegal misappropriation of drug product, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with such laws or regulations. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person or government agency could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us or them and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business and results of operations, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, other U.S. federal healthcare programs or healthcare programs in other jurisdictions, individual imprisonment, other sanctions, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations.

We currently rely on third-party contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, for the production of clinical supply of FX-322 and intend to rely on CMOs for the production of commercial supply of FX-322, if approved, and for clinical and commercial supply of our future product candidates, as well as to supply raw materials necessary to produce our product candidates. Our dependence on CMOs may impair the development of our product candidates and may impair their commercialization, which would adversely impact our business and financial position.

We do not own facilities for manufacturing FX-322 or any product candidate. Instead, we rely on and expect to continue to rely on CMOs for the supply of cGMP grade clinical trial materials of FX-322 and any product candidates we develop and, in future, for commercial quantities. Reliance on CMOs may expose us to more risk than if we were to manufacture our product candidates ourselves. If any CMO we engage is unable to provide sufficient supply of any product candidate we develop, we may be unable to arrange for an alternative supply or to do so on commercially reasonable terms or in a timely manner, which could delay any clinical trials, the commercial launch of our product candidates, if approved, or, regarding any commercial supply, result in a shortage in supply that could negatively impact our revenues. For example, we are substantially dependent on the CMO that supplies us with the proprietary glycogen synthase kinase 3, or GSK3, inhibitor that is a key component of FX-322 and the CMO that lyophilizes FX-322 into a powder. While there are other CMOs who are

 

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able to supply the GSK3 inhibitor or lyophilize FX-322, manufacture of the GSK3 inhibitor and the lyophilization process require proprietary knowledge or specialized capabilities that only a limited number of CMOs have. As a result, transitioning to a new CMO for either the supply of the GSK3 inhibitor or to conduct the lyophilization process would be particularly time consuming and costly. We have not engaged any other CMOs as back-up for the manufacture and supply of FX-322. As a result, if any of the CMOs involved in the manufacture and supply of FX-322 experience a delay or disruption, we may not have sufficient quantities of FX-322 for our planned activities and may not be able to transition to a new CMO in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all, which would negatively impact our ability to develop and potentially commercialize FX-322.

The facilities used to manufacture our product candidates must be inspected by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities. While we provide oversight of manufacturing activities, we do not and will not control the execution of manufacturing activities by, and are or will be dependent on, our CMOs for compliance with cGMP requirements for the manufacture of our product candidates. As a result, we are subject to the risk that our product candidates may have manufacturing defects that we have limited ability to prevent. If a CMO cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and the regulatory requirements, we will not be able to secure or maintain regulatory approval for the use of our product candidates in clinical trials, or for commercial distribution of our product candidates, if approved. While we have engaged independent auditors to assess the compliance with the protocol that we co-developed with our CMOs regarding the manufacturing process for FX-322, in general, we have limited control over the ability of our CMOs to maintain adequate quality control, quality assurance, and qualified personnel, and we were not involved in developing our CMOs’ policies and procedures.

If the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority finds deficiencies with or does not approve these facilities for the manufacture of our product candidates or if it withdraws any such approval or finds deficiencies in the future, we may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which would delay our development program and significantly impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for, or commercialize our product candidates, if approved. In addition, any failure to achieve and maintain compliance with laws, regulations, and standards related to manufacturing could subject us to risks, including the risk that we may have to suspend the manufacture of our product candidates, that obtained approvals could be revoked, and that the FDA or another governmental regulatory authority may take enforcement actions, including untitled letters, warning letters, seizures, injunctions, or product recalls. Furthermore, CMOs may breach existing agreements they have with us because of factors beyond our control. They may also terminate or refuse to renew their agreement at a time that is costly or otherwise inconvenient for us. If we were unable to find an adequate CMO or another acceptable solution in time, our clinical trials could be delayed, or our commercial activities could be harmed.

We contract for the supply of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, and other raw material necessary to produce FX-322 and we may contract in the future for the supply of API and other raw material for any other product candidate we develop. Supplies of API or other raw material could be interrupted from time to time and we cannot be certain that alternative supplies could be obtained within a reasonable time frame, at an acceptable cost, or at all. In addition, a disruption in the supply of API or other raw material could delay the commercial launch of our product candidates, if approved, or result in a shortage in supply, which would impair our ability to generate revenues. Growth in the costs and expenses of API or other raw material may also impair our ability to cost-effectively manufacture our product candidates. In addition, there may be a limited number of suppliers for API or other raw material that we may use to manufacture our product candidates, and we cannot be certain that we will be able to engage such suppliers in a timely manner or at all. If we are unable to do so, clinical development of our product candidates, commercialization for any approved product, or our business could be adversely affected.

 

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Finding new CMOs or third-party suppliers involves additional cost and requires our management’s time and focus. In addition, there is typically a transition period when a new CMO commences work. Although we have not, and do not intend to, begin a clinical trial, including our Phase 2a clinical trial of FX-322, unless we believe we have on hand, or will be able to obtain, a sufficient supply of our product candidates to complete the clinical trial, any significant delay in the supply of our product candidates or the raw materials needed to produce our product candidates, could considerably delay conducting our clinical trials and potential regulatory approval of our product candidates.

As part of their manufacture of our product candidates, our CMOs and third-party suppliers are expected to comply with and respect the proprietary rights of others. If a CMO or third-party supplier fails to acquire the proper licenses or otherwise infringes the proprietary rights of others in the course of providing services to us, we may have to find alternative CMOs or third-party suppliers or defend against claims of infringement, either of which would significantly impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for, or commercialize our product candidates, if approved.

We intend to rely on third parties to conduct, supervise, and monitor our clinical trials. If those third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, or if they perform in an unsatisfactory manner, it may harm our business.

We rely, and will continue to rely, on CROs, CRO-contracted vendors, and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials, including our Phase 2a trial of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL. Our reliance on CROs for clinical development activities limits our control over these activities and we were not involved in developing our CRO’s policies and procedures, but we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our trials is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol and legal, regulatory, and scientific standards.

We and our CROs will be required to comply with the Good Laboratory Practice requirements for our preclinical studies and GCP requirements for our clinical trials, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA and are also required by comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Regulatory authorities enforce GCP requirements through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators, and clinical trial sites. If we or our CROs fail to comply with GCP requirements, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot assure you that upon inspection by a given regulatory authority, such regulatory authority will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with GCP requirements. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product produced under cGMP requirements. Accordingly, if our CROs fail to comply with these requirements, we may be required to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process.

Our CROs are not our employees, and we do not control whether they devote sufficient time and resources to our clinical trials. Our CROs may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials, or other drug development activities, which could harm our competitive position. We face the risk of potential unauthorized disclosure or misappropriation of our intellectual property by CROs, which may reduce our trade secret protection and allow our potential competitors to access and exploit our proprietary technology. If our CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations, or fail to meet expected deadlines, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for any other reason, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully commercialize, any product candidate that we develop. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for any product candidate that we develop would be harmed, our costs could increase, and our ability to generate revenue could be delayed.

 

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If our relationship with any CROs terminates, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs or do so on commercially reasonable terms. Switching or adding additional CROs involves substantial cost and requires management’s time and focus. In addition, there is a natural transition period when a new CRO commences work. As a result, delays occur, which can materially impact our ability to meet our desired clinical development timelines. Though we intend to carefully manage our relationships with our CROs, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter challenges or delays in the future or that these delays or challenges will not have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and prospects.

Risks related to healthcare laws and other legal compliance matters

Enacted and future healthcare legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our product candidates, if approved, and may affect the prices we may set.

In the United States and other jurisdictions, there have been, and we expect there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes, and additional proposed changes, to the healthcare system that could affect our future results of operations. In particular, there have been and continue to be a number of initiatives at the U.S. federal and state levels that seek to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of health care. For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, or collectively the ACA, was enacted, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers. Among the provisions of the ACA, those of greatest importance to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries include the following:

 

 

an annual, non-deductible fee payable by any entity that manufactures or imports certain branded prescription drugs and biologic agents;

 

 

an increase in the statutory minimum rebates a manufacturer must pay under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program;

 

 

a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for drugs and biologics that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted, or injected;

 

 

a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify priorities in, and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness research, along with funding for such research; and

 

 

establishment of a Center for Medicare Innovation at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, to test innovative payment and service delivery models to lower Medicare and Medicaid spending, potentially including prescription drug spending.

Since its enactment, there have been judicial challenges to certain aspects of the ACA, and we expect there will be additional challenges to the ACA in the future. For example, in December 2018, a U.S. District Court judge in the Northern District of Texas ruled that the individual mandate is a critical and inseverable feature of the ACA, and therefore, because it was modified as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. While the current presidential administration, Department of Health and Human Services, and CMS have indicated that the ruling will have no immediate effect, it is unclear how this decision, subsequent appeals, or other efforts to repeal and amend some or all aspects of the ACA will impact the law. Additionally, the current presidential administration will likely continue to seek to modify, repeal, use executive actions to change the implementation of or otherwise invalidate all or certain provisions of the ACA. This includes enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which, among other things, modified penalties for not complying with the ACA’s individual mandate to carry health insurance. The extent to which any such changes may impact our business or financial condition is uncertain.

 

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Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. For example, the Budget Control Act of 2011 resulted in aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year. These reductions went into effect in April 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect through 2027 unless additional action is taken by Congress. In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several types of providers, including hospitals, imaging centers and cancer treatment centers, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. These new laws or any other similar laws introduced in the future may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, which could negatively affect our potential customers and accordingly, our financial operations.

Additionally, there has been increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to specialty drug pricing practices. Specifically, there have been administration efforts, Congressional inquiries and proposed federal and state legislation designed to bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient assistance programs and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs. For example, the current presidential administration’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposal contains further drug price control measures which could be implemented in future legislation or through rulemakings or administrative or executive actions. These measures include, for example, allowing some states to negotiate drug prices under Medicaid and eliminating cost sharing for generic drugs for low-income patients. Moreover, payment methodologies may be subject to changes in healthcare legislation and regulatory initiatives. We expect that additional U.S. federal healthcare reform measures will be implemented in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that the U.S. federal government will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our product candidates or additional pricing pressures.

Individual states in the United States have also become increasingly aggressive in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, measures designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. Legally-mandated price controls on payment amounts by third-party payors or other restrictions could harm our business, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects. In addition, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs. Furthermore, there has been increased interest by third-party payors and governmental authorities in reference pricing systems and publication of discounts and list prices. These reforms could reduce the ultimate demand for our product candidates or put pressure on our product pricing.

In markets outside of the United States, reimbursement and healthcare payment systems vary significantly by country, and many countries have instituted price ceilings on specific products and therapies. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature, or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action in the United States or any other jurisdiction. If we or any third parties we may engage are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we or such third parties are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, our product candidates may lose any regulatory approval that may have been obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.

 

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Our business operations and current and future relationships with contractors, investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, patient organizations, customers, and others will be subject to applicable healthcare regulatory laws, which could expose us to penalties.

Our business operations and current and future arrangements with contractors, investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, patient organizations, and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations. These laws may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we conduct our operations, including how we research, market, sell, and distribute our product candidates, if approved. Such laws include:

 

 

the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons or entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving, or providing any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or certain rebate), directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, lease, order, or recommendation of, any good, facility, item or service for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under U.S. federal and state healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. The U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers on the one hand and prescribers, purchasers and formulary managers on the other hand;

 

 

the U.S. federal false claims and civil monetary penalties laws, including the civil False Claims Act, or FCA, which, among other things, impose criminal and civil penalties, including through civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, against individuals or entities for knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the U.S. federal government claims for payment or approval that are false or fraudulent, knowingly making, using or causing to be made or used a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim, or from knowingly making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the U.S. federal government. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items and services resulting from a violation of the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the FCA. A claim includes “any request or demand” for money or property presented to the federal government. In addition, pharmaceutical manufacturers can be held liable under the FCA even when they do not submit claims directly to government payors if they are deemed to “cause” the submission of false or fraudulent claims;

 

 

the U.S. federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which imposes criminal and civil liability for, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any healthcare benefit program, regardless of the payor (e.g., public or private) and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement, in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services. Similar to the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation:

 

 

HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH (collectively, “HIPAA, as amended”), and their respective implementing regulations, which impose, among other things, specified requirements relating to privacy, security and breaches of individually identifiable health information by covered entities subject to the rule, such as health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and healthcare providers as well as their business associates that perform certain services involving the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information. HITECH created new tiers of civil monetary penalties, amended HIPAA to make civil and criminal penalties directly applicable to business

 

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associates and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce HIPAA, as amended, and seek attorneys’ fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions;

 

 

the FDCA, which prohibits, among other things, the adulteration or misbranding of drugs, biologics, and medical devices;

 

 

federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers;

 

 

federal price reporting laws, which require manufacturers to calculate and report complex pricing metrics to government programs, where such reported prices may be used in the calculation of reimbursement and/or discounts on approved products;

 

 

the U.S. federal legislation commonly referred to as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, enacted as part of the ACA, and its implementing regulations, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics, and medical supplies that are reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to report annually to the government information related to certain payments and other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by certain physicians and their immediate family members;

 

 

analogous U.S. state laws and regulations, including: state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to our business practices, including but not limited to, research, distribution, sales, and marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including private insurers; state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the U.S. federal government, or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources; state laws and regulations that require drug manufacturers to file reports relating to pricing and marketing information, which requires tracking gifts and other remuneration and items of value provided to healthcare professionals and entities; and state laws governing privacy, security, and breaches of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts;

 

 

similar healthcare laws and regulations in the European Union, or EU, and other jurisdictions, including reporting requirements detailing interactions with and payments to healthcare providers and laws governing the privacy and security of personal information, such as, where applicable, the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which imposes obligations and restrictions on the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data relating to individuals located in the EU and the European Economic Area, or EEA, (including health data); and

 

 

laws and regulations prohibiting bribery and corruption such as the FCPA, which, among other things, prohibits U.S. companies and their employees and agents from authorizing, promising, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, corrupt or improper payments or anything else of value to foreign government officials, employees of public international organizations or foreign government-owned or affiliated entities, candidates for foreign public office, and foreign political parties or officials thereof.

Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors available under such laws, it is possible that some of our business activities, including our consulting agreements and other relationships with healthcare providers, some of whom receive stock or stock options as compensation for their services, could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. Ensuring that our current and future internal operations and business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable

 

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healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance, or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations.

If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental laws and regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to actions including the imposition of civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, damages, disgorgement, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs, individual imprisonment, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting requirements, or oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non compliance with these laws, and curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. If any of the physicians or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business are found to not be in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government-funded healthcare programs and imprisonment, which could affect our ability to operate our business. Further, defending against any such actions can be costly, time consuming, and may require significant personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against us, our business may be impaired.

Any clinical trial programs, marketing, or research collaborations in the European Economic Area will subject us to the GDPR.

The GDPR applies to companies established in the EEA, as well as to companies that are not established in the EEA and which collect and use personal data in relation to (i) offering goods or services to, or (ii) monitoring the behavior of, individuals located in the EEA. If we conduct clinical trial programs in the EEA (whether the trials are conducted directly by us or through a clinical vendor or collaborator), or enter into research collaborations involving the monitoring of individuals in the EEA, or market our products to individuals in the EEA, we will be subject to the GDPR. The GDPR puts in place stringent operational requirements for processors and controllers of personal data, including, for example, high standards for obtaining consent from individuals to process their personal data (or reliance on another appropriate legal basis), the provision of robust and detailed disclosures to individuals about how personal data is collected and processed (in a concise, intelligible and easily accessible form), a comprehensive individual data rights regime (including access, erasure, objection, restriction, rectification and portability), maintaining a record of data processing, data export restrictions governing transfers of data from the EEA, short timelines for data breach notifications to be given to data protection regulators or supervisory authorities (and in certain cases, affected individuals) of significant data breaches, and limitations on retention of information. The GDPR also puts in place increased requirements pertaining to health data and other special categories of personal data, as well as a definition of pseudonymized (i.e., key-coded) data. Further, the GDPR provides that EEA member states may establish their own laws and regulations limiting the processing of genetic, biometric, or health data, which could limit our ability to collect, use, and share such data and/or could cause our costs to increase. In addition, there are certain obligations if we contract third-party processors in connection with the processing of personal data. If our or our collaborators’ or service providers’ privacy or data security measures fail to comply with the GDPR requirements, we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations, enforcement notices requiring us to change the way we use personal data, or fines of up to 20 million Euros or up to 4% of our total worldwide annual revenue of the preceding financial year, whichever is higher, as well as compensation claims by affected individuals, including class-action type litigation, negative publicity, reputational harm and a potential loss of business and goodwill.

 

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We are subject to environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, and we may become exposed to liability and substantial expenses in connection with environmental compliance or remediation activities.

Our operations, including our development, testing and manufacturing activities, are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These laws and regulations govern, among other things, the controlled use, handling, release, and disposal of and the maintenance of a registry for, hazardous materials and biological materials, such as chemical solvents, human cells, carcinogenic compounds, mutagenic compounds, and compounds that have a toxic effect on reproduction, laboratory procedures and exposure to blood-borne pathogens. If we fail to comply with such laws and regulations, we could be subject to fines or other sanctions.

As with other companies engaged in activities similar to ours, we face a risk of environmental liability inherent in our current and historical activities, including liability relating to releases of or exposure to hazardous or biological materials. Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations are becoming more stringent. We may be required to incur substantial expenses in connection with future environmental compliance or remediation activities, in which case, the production efforts of our third-party manufacturers or our development efforts may be interrupted or delayed.

Risks related to our intellectual property

If we are unable to obtain, maintain, enforce and protect patent protection for our technology and product candidates or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully develop and commercialize our technology and product candidates may be adversely affected.

Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain protection of the intellectual property we may own solely and jointly with others, or may license from others, particularly patents, in the United States and other countries with respect to any proprietary technology and product candidates we develop. We seek to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our technologies and product candidates that are important to our business and by in-licensing intellectual property related to such technologies and product candidates. If we are unable to obtain or maintain patent protection with respect to any proprietary technology or product candidate, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially harmed.

The patent prosecution process is expensive, time-consuming, and complex, and we may not be able to file, prosecute, maintain, defend, or license all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Moreover, in some circumstances, we do not have the right to control the preparation, filing, and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain, enforce, and defend the patents, covering technology that we license from third parties. Therefore, these in-licensed patents, and applications may not be prepared, filed, prosecuted, maintained, defended, and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business.

The patent position of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. In addition, the scope of patent protection outside of the United States is uncertain and laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States or vice versa. For example, European patent law restricts the patentability of methods of treatment of the human body more than U.S. law does. With respect to both owned and in-licensed patent rights, we cannot predict whether the patent applications we and our licensors are currently pursuing will issue as patents in any particular jurisdiction or whether the claims of

 

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any issued patents will provide sufficient protection from competitors. Further, we may not be aware of all third-party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our product candidates. In addition, publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not published at all. Therefore, neither we nor our licensors can know with certainty whether either we or our licensors were the first to make the inventions claimed in the patents and patent applications we own or in-license now or in the future, or that either we or our licensors were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability, and commercial value of our owned and in-licensed patent rights are uncertain. Moreover, our owned and in-licensed pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology and product candidates, in whole or in part, or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our patents and our ability to obtain, protect, maintain, defend, and enforce our patent rights, narrow the scope of our patent protection and, more generally, could affect the value or narrow the scope of our patent rights.

Moreover, we or our licensors may be subject to a third-party preissuance submission of prior art to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, or become involved in opposition, derivation, revocation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review, or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or product candidates and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize drugs without infringing third-party patent rights. If the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is threatened, regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize current or future product candidates.

Additionally, the coverage claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced before the patent is issued, and its scope can be reinterpreted after issuance. Even if our owned and in-licensed patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us, or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our owned and in-licensed patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and product candidates. Such proceedings also may result in substantial cost and require significant time from our management and employees, even if the eventual outcome is favorable to us. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. Furthermore, our competitors may be able to circumvent our owned or in-licensed patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner. As a result, our owned and in-licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing technology and products similar or identical to any of our technology and product candidates.

Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position on our product candidates for an adequate amount of time.

Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest United States non-provisional filing date. Various

 

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extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our product candidates are obtained, once the patent life has expired, we may be open to competition from competitive products, including generics or biosimilars. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing, and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.

If we are unable to obtain licenses from third parties on commercially reasonable terms or fail to comply with our obligations under such agreements, our business could be harmed.

It may be necessary for us to use the patented or proprietary technology of third parties to commercialize our products, in which case we would be required to obtain a license from these third parties. If we are unable to license such technology, or if we are forced to license such technology on unfavorable terms, our business could be materially harmed. If we are unable to obtain a necessary license, we may be unable to develop or commercialize the affected product candidates, which could materially harm our business and the third parties owning such intellectual property rights could seek either an injunction prohibiting our sales or an obligation on our part to pay royalties and/or other forms of compensation. Even if we are able to obtain a license, it may be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us.

If we are unable to obtain rights to required third-party intellectual property rights or maintain the existing intellectual property rights we have, we may be required to expend significant time and resources to redesign our technology, product candidates, or the methods for manufacturing them or to develop or license replacement technology, all of which may not be feasible on a technical or commercial basis. If we are unable to do so, we may be unable to develop or commercialize the affected technology and product candidates, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects significantly.

Additionally, if we fail to comply with our obligations under license agreements, our counterparties may have the right to terminate these agreements, in which event we might not be able to develop, manufacture or market, or may be forced to cease developing, manufacturing or marketing, any product that is covered by these agreements or may face other penalties under such agreements. Such an occurrence could materially adversely affect the value of the product candidate being developed under any such agreement. Termination of these agreements or reduction or elimination of our rights under these agreements, or restrictions on our ability to freely assign or sublicense our rights under such agreements when it is in the interest of our business to do so, may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated agreements with less favorable terms, cause us to lose our rights under these agreements, including our rights to important intellectual property or technology, or impede, or delay or prohibit the further development or commercialization of, one or more product candidates that rely on such agreements.

If we do not obtain patent term extension in the United States under the Hatch-Waxman Act and in foreign countries under similar legislation, thereby potentially extending the term of our marketing exclusivity for any product candidates we may develop, our business may be materially harmed.

In the United States, the patent term of a patent that covers an FDA-approved drug may be eligible for limited patent term extension, which permits patent term restoration as compensation for the patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process. The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, also known as the Hatch-Waxman Act, permits a patent term extension of up to five years beyond the expiration of the patent. The length of the patent term extension is related to the length of time the drug is under regulatory review. Patent extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval. In addition, only one patent applicable to an approved drug may be extended, and only

 

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those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. Similar provisions are available in Europe and certain other non-United States jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. While, in the future, if and when our product candidates receive FDA approval, we expect to apply for patent term extensions on patents covering those product candidates, there is no guarantee that the applicable authorities will agree with our assessment of whether such extensions should be granted, and even if granted, the length of such extensions. We may not be granted patent term extension either in the United States or in any foreign country because of, for example, failing to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents, or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the term of extension, as well as the scope of patent protection during any such extension, afforded by the governmental authority could be less than we request. If we are unable to obtain any patent term extension or the term of any such extension is less than we request, our competitors may obtain approval of competing products following the expiration of our patent rights, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be materially harmed.

It is possible that we will not obtain patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act for a United States patent covering any of our product candidates that we may identify even where that patent is eligible for patent term extension, or if we obtain such an extension, it may be for a shorter period than we had sought. Further, for our licensed patents, we may not have the right to control prosecution, including filing with the USPTO, of a petition for patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act. Thus, if one of our licensed patents is eligible for patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act, we may not be able to control whether a petition to obtain a patent term extension is filed, or obtained, from the USPTO.

Also, there are detailed rules and requirements regarding the patents that may be submitted to the FDA for listing in the Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, or the Orange Book. We may be unable to obtain patents covering our product candidates that contain one or more claims that satisfy the requirements for listing in the Orange Book. Even if we submit a patent for listing in the Orange Book, the FDA may decline to list the patent, or a manufacturer of generic drugs may challenge the listing. If one of our product candidates is approved and a patent covering that product candidate is not listed in the Orange Book, a manufacturer of generic drugs would not have to provide advance notice to us of any abbreviated new drug application filed with the FDA to obtain permission to sell a generic version of such product candidate.

Changes to patent laws in the United States and other jurisdictions could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.

Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of patent laws in the United States, including patent reform legislation such as the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the Leahy-Smith Act, could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our owned and in-licensed patent applications and the maintenance, enforcement, or defense of our owned and in-licensed issued patents. The Leahy-Smith Act includes a number of significant changes to United States patent law. These changes include provisions that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted, redefine prior art, provide more efficient and cost-effective avenues for competitors to challenge the validity of patents, and enable third-party submission of prior art to the USPTO during patent prosecution, and additional procedures to attack the validity of a patent at USPTO-administered post-grant proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review, and derivation proceedings. Assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, prior to March 2013, in the United States, the first to invent the claimed invention was entitled to the patent, while outside the United States, the first to file a patent application was entitled to the patent. After March 2013, under the Leahy-Smith Act, the United States transitioned to a first-to-file system in which, assuming that the other statutory requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application will be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether a third party was the first to invent the claimed invention. As such, the Leahy-Smith Act

 

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and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

In addition, the patent positions of companies in the development and commercialization of biologics and pharmaceuticals are particularly uncertain. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. This combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the validity and enforceability of patents once obtained. Depending on future actions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts, and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that could have a material adverse effect on our patent rights and our ability to protect, defend and enforce our patent rights in the future.

Although we or our licensors are not currently involved in any litigation, we may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patent or other intellectual property rights, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful.

Competitors and other third parties may infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate our or our licensors’ issued patents or other intellectual property. As a result, we or our licensors may need to file infringement, misappropriation or other intellectual property related claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Any claims we assert against perceived infringers could provoke such parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging that we infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate their intellectual property. In addition, in a patent infringement proceeding, such parties could counterclaim that the patents we or our licensors have asserted are invalid or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, or non-enablement. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the USPTO, or made a misleading statement, during prosecution. Third parties may institute such claims before administrative bodies in the United States or abroad, even outside the context of litigation. Such mechanisms include re-examination, post-grant review, inter partes review, interference proceedings, derivation proceedings, and equivalent proceedings in foreign jurisdictions (e.g., opposition proceedings). The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable.

An adverse result in any such proceeding could put one or more of our owned or in-licensed patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly, and could put any of our owned or in-licensed patent applications at risk of not yielding an issued patent. A court may also refuse to stop the third party from using the technology at issue in a proceeding on the grounds that our owned or in-licensed patents do not cover such technology. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information or trade secrets could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. Any of the foregoing could allow such third parties to develop and commercialize competing technologies and products and have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Interference or derivation proceedings provoked by third parties or brought by us or declared by the USPTO may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect to our patents or patent applications. An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or if a non-exclusive license is offered and our competitors gain access to the same technology. Our defense of litigation or interference or derivation proceedings may fail and, even if

 

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successful, may result in substantial costs, and distract our management and other employees. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties, or enter into development partnerships that would help us bring our product candidates to market.

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

Our commercial success depends upon our ability and the ability of our collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates and use our proprietary technologies without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property and proprietary rights of third parties. There is considerable patent and other intellectual property litigation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. We may become party to, or threatened with, adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our technology and product candidates, including interference proceedings, post grant review, inter partes review, and derivation proceedings before the USPTO and similar proceedings in foreign jurisdictions such as oppositions before the European Patent Office. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are pursuing development candidates. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our technologies or product candidates that we may identify may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent rights of third parties.

The legal threshold for initiating litigation or contested proceedings is low, so that even lawsuits or proceedings with a low probability of success might be initiated and require significant resources to defend. Litigation and contested proceedings can also be expensive and time-consuming, and our adversaries in these proceedings may have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to prosecuting these legal actions than we can. The risks of being involved in such litigation and proceedings may increase if and as our product candidates near commercialization and as we gain the greater visibility associated with being a public company. Third parties may assert infringement claims against us based on existing patents or patents that may be granted in the future, regardless of merit. We may not be aware of all such intellectual property rights potentially relating to our technology and product candidates and their uses, or we may incorrectly conclude that third party intellectual property is invalid or that our activities and product candidates do not infringe such intellectual property. Thus, we do not know with certainty that our technology and product candidates, or our development and commercialization thereof, do not and will not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate any third party’s intellectual property.

Third parties may assert that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization. There may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to materials, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods for treatment related to the discovery, use or manufacture of the product candidates that we may identify or related to our technologies. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications which may later result in issued patents that the product candidates that we may develop may be found to infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies infringes upon these patents. Moreover, as noted above, there may be existing

 

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patents that we are not aware of or that we have incorrectly concluded are invalid or not infringed by our activities. If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover, for example, the manufacturing process of the product candidates that we may develop, any molecules formed during the manufacturing process or any final product itself, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize such product candidate unless we obtained a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire.

Parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize the product candidates that we may identify. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing products, or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.

We may choose to take a license or, if we are found to infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate a third party’s intellectual property rights, we could also be required to obtain a license from such third party to continue developing, manufacturing and marketing our technology and product candidates. However, we may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors and other third parties access to the same technologies licensed to us and could require us to make substantial licensing and royalty payments. We could be forced, including by court order, to cease developing, manufacturing and commercializing the infringing technology or product. In addition, we could be found liable for significant monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if we are found to have willfully infringed a patent or other intellectual property right and could be forced to indemnify our customers or collaborators. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates or force us to cease some of our business operations, which could materially harm our business. In addition, we may be forced to redesign our product candidates, seek new regulatory approvals, and indemnify third parties pursuant to contractual agreements. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Intellectual property litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property could cause us to spend substantial resources and distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing, or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to conduct such litigation or proceedings adequately. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources and may also have an advantage in such proceedings due to their more mature and developed intellectual property portfolios. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of intellectual property litigation or other proceedings could compromise our ability to compete in the marketplace.

 

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Obtaining and maintaining patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non compliance with these requirements.

Periodic maintenance, renewal and annuity fees and various other government fees on any issued patent and pending patent application must be paid to the USPTO and foreign patent agencies in several stages or annually over the lifetime of our owned and in-licensed patents and patent applications. The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. In certain circumstances, we rely on our licensing partners to pay these fees to, or comply with the procedural and documentary rules of, the relevant patent agency. With respect to our patents, we rely on an annuity service, outside firms, and outside counsel to remind us of the due dates and to make payment after we instruct them to do so. While an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Non-compliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. In such an event, potential competitors might be able to enter the market with similar or identical products or technology. If we or our licensors fail to maintain the patents and patent applications covering our product candidates, it would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

If we fail to comply with our obligations in our intellectual property licenses and funding arrangements with third parties, or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our licensors, we could lose intellectual property rights that are important to our business.

We are party to license and funding agreements that impose, and we may enter into additional licensing and funding arrangements with third parties that may impose, diligence, development, and commercialization timelines, milestone payment, royalty, insurance and other obligations on us. Under our existing licensing and funding agreements, we are obligated to pay royalties on net product sales of product candidates or related technologies to the extent they are covered by the agreements. If we fail to comply with such obligations under current or future license and funding agreements, our counterparties may have the right to terminate these agreements or require us to grant them certain rights. Such an occurrence could materially adversely affect the value of any product candidate being developed under any such agreement. Termination of these agreements or reduction or elimination of our rights under these agreements may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated agreements with less favorable terms, or cause us to lose our rights under these agreements, including our rights to important intellectual property or technology, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to a licensing agreement, including:

 

 

the scope of rights granted under the license agreement and other interpretation related issues;

 

 

the extent to which our technology and processes infringe on intellectual property of the licensor that is not subject to the licensing agreement;

 

 

the sublicensing of patent and other rights under our collaborative development relationships;

 

 

our diligence obligations under the license agreement and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations;

 

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the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our licensors and us and our partners; and

 

 

the priority of invention of patented technology.

In addition, the agreements under which we currently license intellectual property or technology from third parties are complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Moreover, if disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected technology and product candidates, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

Our current or future licensors may have relied on third-party consultants or collaborators or on funds from third parties such that our licensors are not the sole and exclusive owners of the patents and patent applications we in-license. If other third parties have ownership rights to patents and/or patent applications we in-license, they may be able to license such patents to our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. This could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

In spite of our best efforts, our licensors might conclude that we have materially breached our license agreements and might therefore terminate the license agreements, thereby removing our ability to develop and commercialize product candidates and technology covered by these license agreements. If these in-licenses are terminated, or if the underlying intellectual property fails to provide the intended exclusivity, competitors would have the freedom to seek regulatory approval of, and to market, products and technologies identical to ours. This could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights throughout the world.

Filing, prosecuting, and defending patents on product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States, and even where such protection is nominally available, judicial and governmental enforcement of such intellectual property rights may be lacking. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection or licenses but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products, and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets, and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology products, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our intellectual property and proprietary rights generally. In

 

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addition, certain jurisdictions do not protect, to the same extent or at all, inventions that constitute new methods of treatment.

Proceedings to enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly, could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.

Many countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of such patent. If we or any of our licensors are forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our competitive position may be impaired, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may be adversely affected.

We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship or ownership of our patents and other intellectual property.

We or our licensors may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our owned or in-licensed patents, trade secrets, or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. For example, we or our licensors may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of employees, consultants or others who are involved in developing our product candidates. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship or our or our licensors’ ownership of our owned or in-licensed patents, trade secrets, or other intellectual property. If we or our licensors fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, intellectual property that is important to our product candidates. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We may be subject to claims by third parties asserting that our employees, consultants or contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties, or we have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their current or former employers, or claims asserting we have misappropriated their intellectual property, or claiming ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.

Many of our employees, consultants and contractors were previously employed at universities or other pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants, and contractors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that these individuals or we have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such individual’s current or former employer. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims.

In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees, consultants and contractors who may be involved in the development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who in fact develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. Our intellectual property assignment agreements with them may not be self-executing or may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. Such

 

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claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

If we fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel, which could have a material adverse effect on our competitive business position and prospects. Such intellectual property rights could be awarded to a third party, and we could be required to obtain a license from such third party to commercialize our technology or products, which license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or such license may be non-exclusive. Even if we are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our management and employees.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.

In addition to seeking patents for some of our technology and product candidates, we also rely on trade secrets and confidentiality agreements to protect our unpatented know-how, technology, and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position. We seek to protect our trade secrets and other proprietary technology, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to them, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract research organizations, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors, and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants. We cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or has had access to our trade secrets or proprietary technology. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Detecting the disclosure or misappropriation of a trade secret and enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside of the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor or other third party, we would have no right to prevent them, or those to whom they communicate it, from using that technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor or other third party, our competitive position would be materially and adversely harmed.

If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.

If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected. Our unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential collaborators or customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trade names or trademarks that incorporate variations of our unregistered trade names or trademarks. Over the long term, if we are unable to successfully register our trade names and trademarks and establish name recognition based on our trade names and trademarks, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trade names and trademarks may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could adversely impact our financial condition or results of operations.

 

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Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats.

The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations and may not adequately protect our business or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. For example:

 

 

we, or our license partners or current or future collaborators, might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our or their inventions;

 

 

others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing our owned or in-licensed intellectual property rights;

 

 

it is possible that our owned and in-licensed pending patent applications or those we may own or in-license in the future will not lead to issued patents;

 

 

issued patents that we hold rights to may be held invalid or unenforceable, including as a result of legal challenges by our competitors;

 

 

our competitors might conduct research and development activities in countries where we do not have patent rights and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive products for sale in our major commercial markets;

 

 

we cannot ensure that any of our pending patent applications, if issued, or those of our licensors, will include claims having a scope sufficient to protect our product candidates;

 

 

we cannot ensure that any patents issued to us or our licensors will provide a basis for an exclusive market for our commercially viable product candidates or will provide us with any competitive advantages;

 

 

we cannot ensure that our commercial activities or product candidates will not infringe upon the patents of others;

 

 

we cannot ensure that we will be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates on a substantial scale, if approved, before the relevant patents that we own or license expire;

 

 

we may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable;

 

 

the patents of others may harm our business; and

 

 

we may choose not to file a patent in order to maintain certain trade secrets or know-how, and a third party may subsequently file a patent covering such intellectual property.

Should any of these events occur, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Risks related to our employees, managing our growth and our operations

Our future success depends on our ability to retain our key personnel and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

We are highly dependent on the expertise of David L. Lucchino, our President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as the other principal members of our management, scientific, and clinical teams. Although we have employment agreements, offer letters or consulting agreements with our executive officers, these agreements do not prevent them from terminating their services at any time.

 

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If we lose one or more of our executive officers or key employees, our ability to implement our business strategy successfully could be seriously harmed. Furthermore, replacing executive officers and key employees may be difficult and may take an extended period of time because of the limited number of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and experience required to develop, gain regulatory approval of and commercialize product candidates successfully. Competition to hire from this limited pool is intense, and we may be unable to hire, train, retain or motivate these additional key personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for similar personnel. We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from universities and research institutions.

In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors may be engaged by other companies or organizations and may have commitments that limit their availability. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates will be limited.

We expect to expand our development, regulatory, and sales and marketing capabilities, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.

We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of clinical development, regulatory affairs and sales and marketing. To manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and financial systems, expand our facilities or acquire new facilities, and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to our limited financial resources and the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. The expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations.

We may engage in transactions that could disrupt our business, cause dilution to our shareholders or reduce our financial resources.

In the future, we may enter into transactions to acquire or in-license rights to product candidates, products or technologies, or to acquire other businesses. If we do identify suitable candidates, we may not be able to enter into such transactions on favorable terms, or at all. Any such acquisitions or in-licenses may not strengthen our competitive position, and these transactions may be viewed negatively by analysts, investors, customers, or other third parties with whom we have relationships. We may decide to incur debt in connection with an acquisition, or in-license or issue our common stock or other equity securities as consideration for the acquisition, which would reduce the percentage ownership of our existing stockholders. We could incur losses resulting from undiscovered liabilities of the acquired business that are not covered by the indemnification we may obtain from the sellers of the acquired business. In addition, we may not be able to successfully integrate the acquired personnel, technologies, and operations into our existing business in an effective, timely, and nondisruptive manner. Such transactions may also divert management attention from day-to-day responsibilities, increase our expenses, and reduce our cash available for operations and other uses. We cannot predict the number, timing or size of future acquisitions or in-licenses or the effect that any such transactions might have on our operating results.

Our business and operations would suffer in the event of system failures.

Despite the implementation of security measures, our computer systems, as well as those of our CROs and other contractors and consultants, are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access,

 

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natural and manmade disasters (including hurricanes), terrorism, war, and telecommunication and electrical failures. While we do not believe that we have experienced any such system failure, accident, or security breach to date, if such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our or their operations, it could result in delays and/or material disruptions of our research and development programs. For example, the loss of preclinical or clinical trial data from completed, ongoing, or planned trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Likewise, we currently rely on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates and to conduct clinical trials, and similar events relating to their computer systems could also have a material adverse effect on our business. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of personal, confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability, and the development of our product candidates could be delayed.

Our proprietary or confidential information may be lost or we may suffer security breaches.

The U.S. federal and various state and foreign governments have enacted or proposed requirements regarding the collection, distribution, use, security and storage of personally identifiable information and other data relating to individuals. In the ordinary course of our business, we and third parties with which we have relationships will continue to collect and store sensitive data, including clinical trial data, proprietary business information, personal data and personally identifiable information of our clinical trial subjects and employees, in data centers and on networks. The secure processing, maintenance and transmission of this information is critical to our operations. Despite our and our collaborators’ security measures, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or internal bad actors, breaches due to employee error, technical vulnerabilities, malfeasance, or other disruptions. A number of proposed and enacted federal, state and international laws and regulations obligate companies to notify individuals of security breaches involving particular personally identifiable information, which could result from breaches experienced by us or by third parties, including collaborators, vendors, contractors, or other organizations with which we have formed strategic relationships. Although, to our knowledge, neither we nor any such third parties have experienced any material security breach, and even though we may have contractual protections with such third parties, any such breach could compromise our or their networks and the information stored therein could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen. Any such access, disclosure, notifications, follow-up actions related to such a security breach or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability under laws that protect the privacy of personal information, and significant costs, including regulatory penalties, fines, and legal expenses, and such an event could disrupt our operations, cause us to incur remediation costs, damage our reputation, and cause a loss of confidence in us and our or such third parties’ ability to conduct clinical trials, which could adversely affect our reputation and delay the clinical development of our product candidates.

Risks related to this offering and our common stock

No active trading market for our common stock currently exists, and an active trading market may not develop and, as a result, it may be difficult for you to sell your shares of our common stock.

Prior to this offering, there has not been an active trading market for our common stock. The lack of an active trading market for our common stock may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable, reduce the market value of your shares, impair our ability to raise capital, and impair our ability to attract, motivate and retain our employees through equity incentive awards. The initial public offering price of our common stock will be determined by negotiations between us and the underwriters and may not be indicative of the market price of our common stock after this offering. Consequently, you may not be able to sell your common stock at or above the initial public offering price, and may lose a portion or all of your investment.

 

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The market price of our common stock may be volatile and fluctuate substantially, which could result in substantial losses for purchasers of our common stock in this offering.

The market price of our common stock is likely to be highly volatile and may be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. In addition to the factors discussed in this section titled “Risk factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus, these factors include:

 

 

any delay in the commencement, enrollment or ultimate completion of our Phase 2a trial of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL;

 

 

the results of the Phase 2a trial of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL or clinical trials of our competitors for the same indication;

 

 

our ability to develop additional product candidates based on our PCA platform, including for multiple sclerosis;

 

 

any delay in submitting a regulatory filing and any adverse development or perceived adverse development with respect to the regulatory review of such filing;

 

 

failure to successfully develop and commercialize FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL or any future product candidate;

 

 

inability to obtain additional funding;

 

 

regulatory or legal developments in the United States and other countries applicable to our PCA platform or any product candidate:

 

 

adverse regulatory decisions;

 

 

changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;

 

 

adverse developments concerning our CMOs or CROs;

 

 

inability to obtain adequate product supply for our other product candidates, or the inability to do so at acceptable prices;

 

 

introduction of new products, services or technologies by our competitors;

 

 

our ability to effectively manage our growth;

 

 

failure to meet or exceed financial projections we provide to the public;

 

 

failure to meet or exceed the estimates and projections of the investment community;

 

 

changes in the market valuations of companies similar to us;

 

 

market conditions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, and the issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations;

 

 

announcements of significant acquisitions, strategic collaborations, joint ventures or capital commitments by us or our competitors;

 

 

the termination of a collaboration agreement, licensing agreement or other strategic arrangement, or the inability to establish additional collaboration arrangements that we need on favorable terms, or at all;

 

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significant lawsuits, including patent or shareholder litigation, and disputes or other developments relating to our proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters, and our ability to obtain patent protection for our product candidates and PCA platform;

 

 

additions or departures of key scientific or management personnel;

 

 

sales of our common stock by us or our shareholders in the future;

 

 

trading volume of our common stock; and

 

 

general economic, industry and market conditions.

In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors, as well as general economic, political, regulatory, and market conditions, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. The market price of our common stock may decline below the initial public offering price, and you may lose some or all of your investment.

We could be subject to securities class action litigation.

In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against companies following a decline in the market price of their securities. This risk is especially relevant for us because biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have experienced significant share price volatility in recent years. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business.

After this offering, our directors, executive officers and shareholders affiliated with our directors and executive officers will continue to own a significant percentage of our common stock and, if they choose to act together, will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to shareholder approval.

Following this offering, our directors, executive officers, and shareholders affiliated with our directors and executive officers will continue to exert significant influence on us. Upon the closing of this offering, these holders will beneficially own approximately     % of the voting power of our outstanding common stock, or approximately     % if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full. As a result, these holders, acting together, will have significant control over all matters that require approval of our stockholders, including the election of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, or approval of any merger, sale of assets, or other major corporate transactions. The interests of these holders may not always coincide with our corporate interests or the interests of other shareholders, and they may act in a manner with which you may not agree or that may not be in the best interests of our other shareholders.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our common stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts may publish about us or our business. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, publish research on our company. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of our company, the trading price for our common stock would likely be negatively impacted. In the event securities or industry analysts initiate coverage, if our product development or financial performance fails to meet analyst expectations or one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or change their opinion of our common stock, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us

 

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or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain on an investment in our common stock for the foreseeable future. See “Dividend policy” for additional information.

We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering and may not use them effectively.

We will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering, and our shareholders will not have the opportunity as part of their investment decision to assess whether the net proceeds are being used appropriately. You may not agree with our decisions, and our use of the proceeds may not yield any return on your investment. Because of the number and variability of factors that will determine our use of the net proceeds from this offering, their ultimate use may vary substantially from their currently intended use. Our failure to apply the net proceeds of this offering effectively could compromise our ability to pursue our growth strategy and we might not be able to yield a significant return, if any, on our investment of the net proceeds.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, or the perception that substantial sales might occur, could cause the price of our common stock to fall.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market after this offering, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Of our issued and outstanding common stock, the shares of common stock sold in this offering will be freely transferable without restrictions or further registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, except for any shares acquired by our affiliates, as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. The remaining shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering will be restricted as a result of securities laws, lock-up agreements or other contractual restrictions that restrict, subject to certain exceptions, transfers for 180 days after the date of this prospectus. See “Shares eligible for future sale—Lock-up agreements.” We or certain of the underwriters may release certain stockholders from the lock-up agreements or other contractual restrictions prior to the end of the 180-day period. In addition, there are shares of common stock that are either subject to outstanding options or reserved for future issuance under our existing equity incentive plans and may become eligible for future sale subject to vesting, the lock-up agreements, and Rule 144 and Rule 701 under the Securities Act. If these additional shares of common stock are sold, or if it is perceived that they will be sold, in the public market, the trading price of our common stock could decline.

Based on the shares of capital stock outstanding as of June 30, 2019, after this offering and after giving effect to the conversion of shares of convertible preferred stock into shares of common stock, the holders of shares of our common stock will be entitled to rights with respect to the registration of their shares under the Securities Act, subject to the 180-day lock-up agreements and other contractual restrictions described above. See “Description of capital stock—Registration rights.” Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in the shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act, except for shares held by affiliates, as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. Any sales of securities by these stockholders could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

 

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If you purchase shares of our common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate and substantial dilution in the book value of your shares.

The initial public offering price of our common stock will be substantially higher than the as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock. Therefore, if you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will pay a price per share of our common stock that substantially exceeds the book value of our tangible assets after subtracting our liabilities. Based on an assumed initial public offering price of $        per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, you will experience immediate dilution of $        per share, representing the difference between our as adjusted net tangible book value per share, after giving effect to this offering, and the assumed initial public offering price. Further, the future exercise of any outstanding options to purchase shares of our common stock will cause you to experience additional dilution. In addition, after giving effect to this offering, investors purchasing common stock in this offering will contribute     % of the total amount invested by stockholders since inception but will only own     % of the common stock outstanding after giving effect to this offering. See “Dilution.”

We will incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.

As a public company, and particularly after we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur previously. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or SOX, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on U.S. reporting public companies, including the establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, which in turn could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified senior management personnel or members for our board of directors. In addition, these rules and regulations are often subject to varying interpretations, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.

Pursuant to Section 404 of SOX, or Section 404, as a public company, we will be required to furnish a report by our senior management on our internal control over financial reporting, and our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to provide an attestation report on our internal control over financial reporting. However, while we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to provide the attestation report. To ensure compliance with Section 404, we are engaged in a process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate internal resources, potentially engage outside consultants, and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented, and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. Despite our efforts, there is a risk that we will not be able to conclude, within the prescribed timeframe or at all, that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as required by Section 404. If we identify one or more material weaknesses, it could result in an adverse reaction on the price of our common stock in the market due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements. Furthermore, if we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our investors may lose

 

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confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could decline.

We are an “emerging growth company” and a “smaller reporting company” and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and a “smaller reporting company” as defined under the rules promulgated under the Securities Act. As an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company we may follow reduced disclosure requirements and do not have to make all of the disclosures that public companies that are not emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies do. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (a) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1.07 billion or more; (b) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the completion of this offering; (c) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (d) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, which means the market value of our voting and non-voting common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. These exemptions include:

 

 

not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404;

 

 

an exemption from compliance with the requirement of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding the communication of critical audit matters in the auditor’s report on the financial statements;

 

 

progressively adding to the number of years of audited financial statements required to be included in our periodic reports; and

 

 

exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation, stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved, and having to disclose the ratio of the compensation of our chief executive officer to the median compensation of our employees. In this prospectus, we have not included all of the executive compensation related information that would be required if we were not an emerging growth company.

In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards; and as a result of this election, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates.

We are also a smaller reporting company, and we will remain a smaller reporting company until the fiscal year following the determination that our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is more than $250 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter, or our annual revenues are more than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is more than $700 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter. Similar to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies are able to provide simplified executive compensation disclosure, are exempt from the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404, and have certain other reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, being required to provide only two

 

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years of audited financial statements and not being required to provide selected financial data, supplemental financial information or risk factors.

We may choose to take advantage of some, but not all, of the available exemptions for emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies. We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our shares price may be more volatile.

Provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws that will become effective upon the closing of this offering or Delaware law may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of our company that our shareholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which our shareholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares.

Our restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws that will become effective upon the closing of this offering include certain anti-takeover provisions, including those establishing:

 

 

a classified board of directors with three-year staggered terms, which may delay the ability of stockholders to change the membership of a majority of our board of directors;

 

 

no cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates;

 

 

the exclusive right of our board of directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the board of directors or the resignation, death or removal of a director, which prevents shareholders from filling vacancies on our board of directors;

 

 

the ability of our board of directors to authorize the issuance of shares of preferred stock and to determine the terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;

 

 

the ability of our board of directors to alter our bylaws without obtaining stockholder approval;

 

 

the required approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of the shares entitled to vote at an election of directors to adopt, amend or repeal our bylaws or repeal the provisions of our restated certificate of incorporation regarding the election and removal of directors:

 

 

a prohibition on stockholder action by written consent, which forces stockholder action to be taken at an annual or special meeting of our stockholders;

 

 

the requirement that a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by the chairman of the board of directors, the chief executive officer, the president, or the board of directors, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors: and

 

 

advance notice procedures that stockholders must comply with in order to nominate candidates to our board of directors or to propose matters to be acted upon at a shareholders’ meeting, which may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.

These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. In addition, because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions may frustrate

 

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or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors.

In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner.

Our restated certificate of incorporation will designate specific courts as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.

Our restated certificate of incorporation that will become effective upon the closing of this offering specifies that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (2) any action asserting a claim for breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, or other employees to us or our stockholders, (3) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, our restated certificate of incorporation, or our amended and restated bylaws, (4) any action to interpret, apply, enforce, or determine the validity of our restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws, or (5) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Under our restated certificate of incorporation, this exclusive forum provision will not apply to claims which are vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or for which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware does not have subject matter jurisdiction. For instance, the provision would not apply to actions arising under federal securities laws, including suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. This exclusive forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. For example, stockholders who do bring a claim in the Court of Chancery could face additional litigation costs in pursuing any such claim, particularly if they do not reside in or near the State of Delaware. The Court of Chancery may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments or results may be more favorable to us than to our stockholders. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action. If a court were to find the choice of forum provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

 

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Special note regarding forward-looking statements

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this prospectus, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business strategy, prospective products and product candidates, the treatment potential for our product candidates, diseases or indications that we may target, the expected timeline for achievement of our clinical milestones, the timing of, and potential results from, clinical and other trials, marketing authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, or regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions, coverage and reimbursement for procedures using our product candidates, if approved, research and development costs, timing of regulatory filings and feedback, timing and likelihood of success, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The forward-looking statements in this prospectus are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this prospectus and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions described under the sections titled “Risk factors” and “Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations” and elsewhere in this prospectus. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks, including, without limitation, the following:

 

 

the initiation, timing, progress and results of our preclinical and clinical trials and research and development programs, including our planned Phase 2a clinical trial for FX-322 and our program to develop a product candidate for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, or MS;

 

 

our ability to continue to develop our progenitor cell activation, or PCA, platform and identify additional product candidates;

 

 

our ability to successfully complete clinical trials of any product candidate and obtain regulatory approval for it;

 

 

the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, including our planned filing of an investigational new drug application for our MS product candidate;

 

 

the commercialization, marketing and manufacture of any product candidate, if approved;

 

 

the pricing and reimbursement of any product candidate, if approved;

 

 

the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of any products for which we receive regulatory approval;

 

 

the implementation of our strategic plans for our business, product candidates, and technology;

 

 

the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our product candidates, PCA platform, and technology;

 

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estimates of our expenses, future revenues, capital requirements, and our needs for additional financing;

 

 

our ability to maintain and establish collaborations, including the Astellas Agreement;

 

 

our financial performance;

 

 

developments relating to our competitors and our industry, including the impact of government regulation;

 

 

the period of time for which our existing cash and cash equivalents and the proceeds from this offering will enable us to fund our operations; and

 

 

our intended use of proceeds from this offering.

Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond our control, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this prospectus will prove to be accurate. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances, or otherwise.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

 

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Industry and other data

Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this prospectus concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate, including our general expectations, market position, and market opportunity, is based on our management’s estimates and research, as well as industry and general publications and research, surveys, and studies conducted by third parties. Management’s estimates are derived from publicly available information, their knowledge of our industry, and their assumptions based on such information and knowledge, which we believe to be reasonable. These publications, surveys, studies, and data involve a number of assumptions and limitations that are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk factors.” These and other factors could cause our future performance to differ materially from our assumptions and estimates.

 

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Use of proceeds

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from this offering will be approximately $        million, assuming an initial public offering price of $        per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares from us is exercised in full, we estimate that our net proceeds will be approximately $        million.

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $        per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the net proceeds to us from this offering by approximately $        million, assuming no change in the assumed number of shares offered by us and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each increase or decrease of 1.0 million in the number of shares offered by us would increase or decrease the net proceeds to us from this offering by approximately $        million, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments as follows:

 

 

approximately $        million to advance the clinical development of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, including the completion of our planned Phase 2a clinical trial for FX-322;

 

 

approximately $        million to advance the development of other product candidates using our PCA platform, including the submission of an IND for an MS product candidate; and

 

 

the remainder for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

Our expected use of the net proceeds from this offering represents our intentions based upon our current plans and business conditions, which could change in the future as our plans and business conditions evolve. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to in-license, acquire or invest in additional businesses, technologies, products or assets, although currently we have no specific agreements, commitments, or understandings in this regard. As of the date of this prospectus, we cannot predict with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to be received upon the closing of this offering or the amounts that we will actually spend on the uses set forth above. Predicting the cost necessary to develop product candidates can be difficult and we anticipate that we will need additional funds to complete the development of product candidates we identify. The amounts and timing of our actual expenditures may vary significantly depending on numerous factors, including the progress of our development efforts, the status of, and results from, preclinical studies and clinical trials, including the Phase 2a clinical trial for FX-322 we plan to initiate in the fourth quarter of 2019, as well as any collaborations that we may enter into with third parties for any product candidates we develop, and any unforeseen cash needs. As a result, our management will retain broad discretion over the allocation of the net proceeds from this offering.

We anticipate that our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, together with the anticipated net proceeds from this offering, will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through                  . We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, and we could utilize our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Following this offering, we will require substantial capital to complete clinical development, seek regulatory approval of, and, if approved, commercialize FX-322 and any other product candidates we may develop. We may satisfy our future cash needs through the sale of equity securities, debt financings, working capital lines of credit,

 

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corporate collaborations or license agreements, grant funding, interest income earned on invested cash balances, or a combination of one or more of these sources.

Pending the use of proceeds described above, we plan to invest the net proceeds from this offering in short- and intermediate-term, interest-bearing obligations, investment-grade instruments, certificates of deposit, or direct or guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government.

 

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Dividend policy

We have never declared or paid any dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and future earnings, if any, for the operation and expansion of our business and, therefore, we do not anticipate declaring or paying any dividends in the foreseeable future. The payment of dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our results of operations, capital requirements, financial condition, prospects, contractual arrangements, any limitations on payment of dividends presented in any debt agreements, and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.

 

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Capitalization

The following table sets forth our cash and our capitalization as of June 30, 2019:

 

 

on an actual basis;

 

 

on a pro forma basis to reflect (i) the sale and issuance of 39,492,960 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock in July 2019 for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $62.0 million; (ii) the receipt of an upfront payment of $80.0 million pursuant to the Astellas Agreement; (iii) the satisfaction of the royalty payment of $16.0 million owed to MIT upon the receipt of the upfront payment under the Astellas Agreement; (iv) the conversion of all outstanding shares of our Series A, B, and C convertible preferred stock and the preferred stock of Frequency Japan into 148,704,534 shares of common stock and the forfeiture of all outstanding shares of our Series A-1 and B-1 preferred stock upon the closing of this offering; and (v) the filing and effectiveness of our restated certificate of incorporation which will occur upon the closing of this offering; and

 

 

on a pro forma as adjusted basis to give further effect to our sale and issuance of              shares of common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

Our capitalization following the closing of this offering will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other final terms of this offering. You should read this information in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, the information in the sections titled “Use of proceeds,” “Selected consolidated financial data,” and “Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations,” and the other financial information contained in this prospectus.

 

   
     As of June 30, 2019  
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)    Actual     Pro forma    

Pro forma

as adjusted(1)

 
           unaudited        

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

   $ 31,509     $ 157,509     $                
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Convertible preferred stock (Series A, A-1, B, B-1 and C), $0.001 par value per share: 114,208,722 shares authorized and 104,694,503 shares issued and outstanding, actual; no shares authorized, issued and outstanding, pro form and pro forma as adjusted

   $ 85,201     $     $    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Non-controlling interest

     3,773          
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Stockholder’s equity (deficit):

      

Common stock, $0.001 par value per share: 165,000,000 shares authorized and 15,520,398 shares issued and outstanding, actual;                  shares authorized, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted; 164,224,932 shares issued and outstanding, pro forma; and              shares issued and outstanding, pro forma as adjusted

     16       164    

Preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share: no shares authorized, issued or outstanding, actual;              shares authorized, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted; no shares issued or outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted

              

Additional paid-in capital

     2,485       153,311    

Accumulated other comprehensive income

     150       150    

Accumulated deficit

     (61,766     (77,766  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity

     (59,115     75,859    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total capitalization

   $ 29,859     $ 75,859     $    

 

 

 

 

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(1)   The pro forma as adjusted information is illustrative only and will change based on the actual initial public offering price and other final terms of this offering. Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders’ (deficit) equity, and total capitalization by $         million, assuming no change in the assumed number of shares offered by us, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each increase or decrease of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase or decrease the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders’ (deficit) equity, and total capitalization by approximately $         million, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

The number of shares of our common stock shown as issued and outstanding in the table above excludes:

 

 

29,460,046 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options outstanding pursuant to our Existing Plan, as of June 30, 2019, at a weighted-average exercise price of $0.33 per share;

 

 

                     shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options granted after June 30, 2019 pursuant to our Existing Plan;

 

 

             shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance pursuant to our 2019 Plan which will become effective in connection with this offering, and shares of our common stock that become available pursuant to provisions in the 2019 Plan that automatically increase the share reserve under the 2019 Plan as described in the section titled “Executive and director compensation—Incentive compensation plans—2019 incentive award plan”; and

 

 

             shares of our common stock that will become available for future issuance under our 2019 ESPP which will become effective in connection with this offering, and shares of our common stock that become available pursuant to provisions in the 2019 ESPP that automatically increase the share reserve under the 2019 ESPP as described in the section titled “Executive and director compensation—Incentive compensation plans—2019 employee stock purchase plan.”

 

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Dilution

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your ownership interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after the completion of this offering.

As of June 30, 2019, we had a historical net tangible book value (deficit) of $(59.6) million, or $(3.84) per share of common stock. Our historical net tangible book value per share represents total tangible assets less total liabilities, convertible preferred stock, and non-controlling interest, divided by the number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2019.

Our pro forma net tangible book value as of June 30, 2019 was $75.4 million, or $0.46 per share of common stock. Pro forma net tangible book value per share represents our total tangible assets less our total liabilities, divided by the number of shares of common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2019, after giving effect to (i) the sale and issuance of 39,492,960 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock in July 2019 for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $62.0 million, (ii) the receipt of an upfront payment of $80.0 million pursuant to the Astellas Agreement, (iii) the satisfaction of the royalty payment of $16.0 million owed to MIT upon the receipt of the upfront payment under the Astellas Agreement, and (iv) the conversion of all of our outstanding shares of our Series A, B, and C convertible preferred stock and the preferred stock of Frequency Japan into an aggregate of 148,704,534 shares of common stock and the forfeiture of all outstanding shares of Series A-1 and B-1 preferred stock upon completion of this offering.

After giving further effect to receipt of the net proceeds from our sale and issuance of              shares of common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of June 30, 2019 would have been approximately $         million, or approximately $         per share of common stock. This amount represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value of $         per share to our existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of approximately $         per share to new investors participating in this offering. We determine dilution by subtracting the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering from the initial public offering price. The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis:

 

Assumed initial public offering price

           $                

Historical net tangible book value as of June 30, 2019

   $ (3.84  

Increase (decrease) attributable to the pro forma adjustments described above

     4.30    

Pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) as of June 30, 2019

     0.46    

Increase attributable to this offering

    

Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value after this offering

     $    

Dilution to new investors in this offering

     $    

 

 

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $        , and dilution per share to new investors by $        , assuming no change in the assumed number of shares offered by us and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each increase or decrease of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase or decrease our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $        , and increase or decrease dilution per share to investors by $        , assuming no change in the initial public offering price and after

 

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deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and the estimated offering expenses payable by us.

If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in full, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value after this offering would be $         per share, the increase in pro forma net tangible book value attributable to this offering per share would be $        , and the dilution per share to new investors would be $        , in each case assuming no change in the initial public offering price and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions.

The following table summarizes on the pro forma as adjusted basis described above the number of shares purchased from us, the total consideration paid, or to be paid, to us in cash, and the average price per share paid by existing stockholders and to be paid by new investors in this offering. The summary below is based on an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, before deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

 

       
     Shares purchased      Total consideration      Average  price
per share
 
      Number      Percent      Amount      Percent  

Existing stockholders

        %      $                      %      $                

New investors

              

Total

        100.0%           100.0%      $    

 

 

A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the total consideration paid by new investors by $         million and, in the case of an increase, would increase the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors by     % and, in the case of a decrease, would decrease the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors by     %, assuming no change in the assumed number of shares offered by us. An increase or decrease of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the total consideration paid by new investors by $         million and, in the case of an increase, would increase the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors by     % and, in the case of a decrease, would decrease the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors by     %, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price.

The table above assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares in this offering. If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in full:

 

 

the number of shares of common stock held by existing stockholders will decrease to approximately     % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering; and

 

 

the number of shares held by new investors will increase to approximately     % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering.

The foregoing discussion and tables exclude:

 

 

29,460,046 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options outstanding pursuant to our Existing Plan as of June 30, 2019, at a weighted-average exercise price of $0.33 per share;

 

 

                     shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options granted after June 30, 2019 pursuant to our Existing Plan;

 

 

             shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance pursuant to our 2019 Plan which will become effective in connection with this offering, and shares of our common stock that become available

 

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pursuant to provisions in the 2019 Plan that automatically increase the share reserve under the 2019 Plan as described in the section titled “Executive and director compensation—Incentive compensation plans—2019 incentive award plan”; and

 

 

             shares of our common stock that will become available for future issuance under our 2019 ESPP which will become effective in connection with this offering, and shares of our common stock that become available pursuant to provisions in the 2019 ESPP that automatically increase the share reserve under the 2019 ESPP as described in the section titled “Executive and director compensation—Incentive compensation plans—2019 employee stock purchase plan.”

To the extent any outstanding stock options are exercised, you will experience further dilution as a new investor in this offering. In addition, we may choose to raise additional capital because of market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe that we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. If we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the issuance of these securities could result in further dilution to our shareholders.

 

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Selected consolidated financial data

You should read the following selected consolidated financial data together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus and the section titled “Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations.” We have derived the consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2017 and 2018 from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have derived the consolidated statement of operations data for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of June 30, 2019 from our unaudited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus, which have been prepared on the same basis as the audited consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited data reflects all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the financial information in those statements. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected in any future period, and our results for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for any full year.

 

     
     Year ended December 31,     Six months ended June 30,  
           (unaudited)  
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)    2017     2018     2018     2019  

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:

        

Revenue

   $     $     $     $  

Operating expenses:

        

Research and development

   $ 11,966     $ 11,880       5,409       7,367  

General and administrative

     4,340       7,064       3,153       5,568  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

     16,306       18,944       8,562       12,935  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (16,306     (18,944     (8,562     (12,935

Interest income

                       218  

Interest expense

     (174     (106     (32      

Realized gain on investments

                       26  

Loss on extinguishment of debt

     (3,749     (269            

Foreign exchange gain (loss)

     (8     151       9       13  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss and net loss attributable to common stockholders

   $ (20,237   $ (19,168     (8,585     (12,678
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted(1)

   $ (4.27   $ (1.86     (0.90     (0.99
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, basic and diluted(1)

     4,734,504       10,306,785       9,574,528       12,811,539  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted (unaudited)(2)

     $ (0.24     $ (0.10
    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Pro forma weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, basic and diluted (unaudited)(2)

       81,235,290         122,023,113  

 

 

 

(1)   See Note 17 to our audited consolidated financial statements and Note 13 to our unaudited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for further explanation and details of the method used to calculate the basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock and the weighted-average number of shares used in the computation of the per share amounts.

 

(2)  

The pro forma basic and diluted weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding used in the calculation of unaudited pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders is computed using the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding after giving effect to the conversion of all Series A and B convertible preferred stock and the preferred stock of Frequency Japan

 

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into shares of common stock and the forfeiture of all outstanding shares of Series A-1 and B-1 preferred stock, as if such conversion and forfeiture had occurred at the beginning of the period presented, or the date of issuance, if later. The information presented in this table does not give effect to the sale and issuance of shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock in July 2019. See Note 17 to our audited consolidated financial statements and Note 13 to our unaudited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for a further explanation and details of the method used to calculate the unaudited pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock and the weighted-average number of shares used in the computation of the pro forma per share amounts.

 

     
     As of December 31,     As of June 30,  
(in thousands)    2017     2018     2019  
                 (unaudited)  

Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:

      

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

   $ 17,937     $ 42,189     $ 31,509  

Working capital(1)

     15,730       39,164       27,952  

Total assets

     19,787       44,548       35,004  

Total liabilities

     2,735       4,122       5,145  

Convertible preferred stock and non-controlling interest

     46,694       88,708       88,974  

Accumulated deficit

     (29,920     (49,088     (61,766

Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity

     (29,642     (48,282     (59,115

 

 

 

(1)   We define working capital as current assets less current liabilities. See our audited consolidated financial statements and our unaudited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for further details regarding our current assets and current liabilities.

 

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Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this prospectus. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should review the section titled “Risk factors” in this prospectus for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described below.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on harnessing the body’s innate biology to potentially repair or reverse damage caused by a broad range of degenerative diseases. Our proprietary approach, called PCA, uses combinations of small molecules to activate progenitor cells within the body to create functional tissue. Further, these progenitor cells, which are closely related to stem cells, are already resident in the targeted location in the body and programmed to develop and differentiate into specific cell types within an organ.

Our initial therapeutic focus is SNHL, which is the most prevalent type of hearing loss. We are developing FX-322 to treat the underlying cause of SNHL, which is the loss of hair cells. FX-322 is designed to regenerate hair cells through the activation of progenitor cells already present in the ear. In our Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating FX-322 in 23 patients with stable SNHL, we observed a statistically significant improvement in WR, a key measure of hearing function, and FX-322 was observed to be well-tolerated. We plan to commence a Phase 2a clinical trial of FX-322 in patients with SNHL in the fourth quarter of 2019 and anticipate reporting top-line results from this trial in the second half of 2020. We are also working to identify a product candidate for the treatment of MS. This program focuses on activating progenitor cells in the central nervous system to repair the myelin sheath that protects nerves and may have the potential to reverse damage done by the disease. We intend to submit an investigational new drug application to the FDA for our MS product candidate in the second half of 2021.

In July 2019, we closed our Series C convertible preferred stock financing in which we issued and sold 39,492,960 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $62.0 million. We also entered into the Astellas Agreement, pursuant to which Astellas agreed to pay us an upfront payment of $80.0 million, which we received in July 2019.

Since our formation in 2014, we have devoted substantially all our resources to developing our PCA platform, conducting research and development activities, including product candidate development, recruiting skilled personnel, establishing our intellectual property portfolio, and providing general and administrative support for these operations. We have financed our operations primarily through proceeds from the sale of convertible notes and of our convertible preferred stock. To date, we have raised approximately $228.0 million through a combination of convertible notes, convertible preferred stock financings (including our Series C convertible preferred stock), the upfront payment under the Astellas Agreement, and grants.

Since our formation, we have incurred significant operating losses and have not generated any revenue from the sale of products. Our ability to generate any product revenue or product revenue sufficient to achieve profitability will depend on the successful development and eventual commercialization of one or more of our product candidates. Our net losses were $20.2 million, $19.2 million and $12.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 and the six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively. As of June 30, 2019, we had an accumulated deficit of $61.8 million.

 

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We expect our operating expenses to increase substantially in connection with the expansion of our product development programs and capabilities. We will not generate revenue from product sales unless and until we successfully complete clinical development, obtain regulatory approval for, and successfully commercialize our product candidates, or until our collaborators do so, which could result in milestone payments or royalties to us. If we obtain regulatory approval for any of our product candidates, we expect to incur significant expenses related to developing our commercialization capability to support product sales, marketing and distribution. In addition, following the closing of this offering, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company.

As a result of these anticipated expenditures, we will need additional financing to support our continuing operations. Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of public or private equity or debt financings and other sources, which may include current and new collaborations with third parties. Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. Our inability to raise capital as and when needed would have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategy. We cannot assure you that we will ever generate sufficient revenue to achieve profitability.

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development of therapeutics, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of increased expenses or when or if we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability. Even if we can generate revenue from product sales, we may not become profitable. If we fail to become profitable or are unable to sustain profitability on a continuing basis, then we may be required to raise additional capital on terms that are unfavorable to us or we may be unable to continue our operations at planned levels and be forced to reduce or terminate our operations.

License and collaboration agreements

Astellas Pharma, Inc.

In July 2019, we entered into the Astellas Agreement with Astellas, under which we granted Astellas an exclusive, royalty-bearing, sub-licensable, nontransferable license to certain patent rights to research, develop, manufacture, have manufactured, use, seek, and secure regulatory approval for, commercialize, offer for sale, sell, have sold and import, and otherwise exploit licensed products containing both a GSK-3 inhibitor and an HDAC inhibitor, or the Astellas licensed products, including our product candidate FX-322, outside of the United States. We and Astellas have agreed to jointly develop the Astellas licensed products, including carrying out joint studies. Each party has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to carry out development activities assigned to it under an agreed-upon development plan. Astellas has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain regulatory approval for at least one Astellas licensed product in SNHL and in age-related hearing loss, in each case in one major Asian country and one major European country. We have agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain regulatory approval for at least one Astellas licensed product in the United States. Astellas has the sole right to commercialize the Astellas licensed products outside of the United States and we have the sole right to commercialize the Astellas licensed products in the United States. Astellas has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize Astellas licensed products in a major Asian country and a major European country following receipt of regulatory approval in such countries.

As consideration for the licensed rights under the Astellas Agreement, Astellas agreed to pay us an upfront payment of $80.0 million, which we received in July 2019, and potential development milestone payments up to $230.0 million. If the Astellas licensed products are successfully commercialized, we would be eligible for up to $315.0 million in potential commercial milestone payments and also tiered royalties at rates ranging from low- to mid-teen percentages. See “Business—License and collaboration agreements—Astellas Pharma, Inc.”

 

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In December 2016, we entered into an Exclusive Patent License Agreement, or the MIT License, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, under which we received an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license to certain patent rights to develop, make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, lease, and import products, or the MIT licensed products, and to develop and perform processes, or the MIT licensed processes, which incorporate the licensed technology for the treatment of disease, including but not limited to the prevention and remediation of hearing loss. We are required to use diligent efforts to develop and commercialize the MIT licensed products or processes, and to make such products or processes reasonably available to the public. We are also subject to certain development obligations with regards to a first MIT licensed product. We have satisfied certain obligations related to preclinical studies and the filing of an IND for a first MIT licensed product with our development activities related to FX-322. Our future development obligations are: (i) to commence a Phase II clinical trial for such product within two years of the IND filing for such product, (ii) to commence a Phase III clinical trial for such product within five years of the IND filing for such product, (iii) to file a New Drug Application, or NDA, or equivalent with the FDA or comparable European regulatory agency for such product within nine years of the IND filing for such product, and (iv) to make a first commercial sale of such product within 11 years of the IND filing for such product. We also have certain development obligations with regards to a second MIT licensed product.

Upon entering into the MIT License, we paid a $50 thousand license fee payment and issued shares of our common stock equal to 5% of our then-outstanding capital stock to MIT. We are required to pay certain annual license maintenance fees ranging from $30 thousand to $0.1 million per year prior to first commercial sale of a MIT licensed product and an annual license maintenance fee of $0.2 million every year afterwards, which may be credited to running royalties during the same calendar year, if any. We are also required to make potential milestone payments in an aggregate amount of up to $2.9 million on each MIT licensed product or process. In addition, we agreed to pay a low single-digit royalty on the MIT licensed products and processes and a low-twenties royalty on sub-license revenues. See “Business—License and collaboration agreements—Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

In February 2019, we entered into an Non-Exclusive Patent License Agreement, or the MEEI License, with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, or MEEI, under which we received a non-exclusive, non-sub-licensable, worldwide, royalty-bearing license to certain patent rights to develop, make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, lease, and import products, and to develop and perform processes that incorporate the licensed technology for the treatment or prevention of hearing loss, or the MEEI licensed products. We are obligated to use diligent efforts to develop and commercialize the MEEI licensed products. We are also subject to milestone timeline obligations to dose a first patient in a Phase II trial by December 31, 2020 and to dose a first patient in a Phase III trial by December 31, 2024.

Upon entering into the MEEI License, we made a $20 thousand license fee payment. We are obligated to pay certain annual license maintenance fees between $5 thousand and $7.5 thousand per each MEEI patent family case number included in the licensed MEEI patent rights prior to first commercial sale of an MEEI licensed product. We are also obligated to pay a minimum annual royalty payment of $15 thousand per each MEEI patent family case number included in the licensed MEEI patent rights after first commercial sale of an MEEI licensed product. We are also obligated to make milestone payments up to $350 thousand on each product or process that incorporates the licensed patent rights. In addition, we have agreed to pay a low single-digit royalty on products and processes that incorporate the licensed patent rights. See “Business—License and collaboration agreements—Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.”

 

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The Scripps Research Institute (California Institute for Biomedical Research)

In September 2018, we entered into a license agreement, or the CALIBR License, with the California Institute for Biomedical Research, or CALIBR, a division of Scripps, under which we received an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license to certain patent rights to make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, and import products, or the CALIBR licensed products, which incorporate licensed technology for the treatment of MS. We have agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop, manufacture, and sell at least one CALIBR licensed product. We are also subject to certain milestone timeline obligations to: (i) submit an IND (or equivalent) for a CALIBR licensed product by the 30th month after the effective date of the CALIBR License, (ii) initiate a Phase II clinical trial (or equivalent) for a CALIBR licensed product by the fourth anniversary of the effective date of the CALIBR License, and (iii) initiate a Phase III clinical trial (or equivalent) for a CALIBR licensed product by the sixth anniversary of the effective date of the CALIBR License.

Upon entering into the CALIBR License, we made a $1.0 million license fee payment, and are required to make milestone payments in an aggregate amount of up to $26.0 million for each category of CALIBR licensed products. Category 1 is any CALIBR licensed products containing a compound that modulates any muscarinic receptor, and Category 2 is any CALIBR licensed products not included in Category 1 that could differentiate oligodendrocyte precursor cells from in vitro studies and/or are active in animal models relevant to MS. We are also required to pay a mid-single-digit royalty on CALIBR licensed products and a royalty on sub-license revenues ranging from a low-teen percentage to 50%. See “Business—License and collaboration agreements—The Scripps Research Institute (California Institute for Biomedical Research).”

The Scripps Research Institute

In September 2018, we entered into a Research Funding and Option Agreement, or the Scripps option agreement, with Scripps, under which we were granted an exclusive option to acquire an exclusive, sublicensable, worldwide license under certain intellectual property related to the treatment of MS. As consideration for the Scripps option agreement, we are required to make funding payments totaling $0.7 million to Scripps to support its research activities. Scripps has agreed to use reasonable efforts to perform the research program pursuant to the Scripps option agreement. See “Business—License and collaboration agreements—The Scripps Research Institute (California Institute for Biomedical Research).”

Components of our results of operations

Revenue

To date, we have not generated any revenue from product sales and do not expect to generate any revenue from product sales in the foreseeable future.

Research and development expenses

Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for our research activities, including our discovery efforts and for the development of our product candidate, FX-322. These include the following:

 

 

salaries, benefits and other related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, for personnel engaged in research and development functions;

 

 

expenses incurred under agreements with third parties, including contract research organizations, or CROs, and other third parties that conduct preclinical research and development activities and clinical trials on our behalf;

 

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costs to manufacture our clinical trial material for use in our preclinical studies and clinical trials;

 

 

costs of outside consultants, including their fees and related travel expenses;

 

 

costs of laboratory supplies and acquiring, developing and manufacturing preclinical study and clinical trial materials;

 

 

option and license payments made to third parties, including MIT, Scripps, and MEEI, for intellectual property used in research and development activities; and

 

 

facility-related expenses, which include direct depreciation costs and expenses for rent and maintenance of facilities and other operating costs if specifically identifiable to research activities.

We expense research and development costs as incurred.

We track external research and development costs, including the cost of services, outsourced research and development, clinical trials, contract manufacturing, laboratory equipment and maintenance, and certain other development costs, by product candidate when the costs are specifically identifiable to a product candidate. Internal and external costs associated with infrastructure resources, other research and development costs, facility-related costs, and depreciation and amortization that are not identifiable to a specific product candidate are included in the platform development, early-stage research, and unallocated expenses category in the table below.

The following table summarizes our research and development expenses by product candidate or development program for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 and the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019:

 

         
     Years ended
December 31,
     Increase
(Decrease)
    Six months ended
June 30,
     Increase
(Decrease)
 
      2017      2018     2018      2019  
     (in thousands)  

Direct research and development expenses by product candidate:

                

FX-322 external development costs

   $ 6,948      $ 2,669      $ (4,279   $ 1,072      $ 1,616      $ 544  

Platform development, early-stage research and unallocated expenses:

                

Employee-related costs

     3,155        4,432        1,277       2,283        3,399        1,116  

Laboratory supplies

     409        313        (96     156        156         

Outsourced research and development

     635        3,395        2,760       1,347        1,605        258  

Facility-related costs

     414        362        (52     431        395        (36

Depreciation and amortization

     180        300        120       120        196        76  

Other research and development costs

     225        409        184                      
  

 

 

 

Total research and development expenses

   $ 11,966      $ 11,880      $ (86   $ 5,409      $ 7,367      $ 1,958  

 

 

We expect that our research and development expenses will continue to increase substantially for the foreseeable future and will comprise a larger percentage of our total expenses as we initiate and complete our Phase 2a clinical trial and additional clinical trials for FX-322 and continue to discover and develop additional product candidates. Product candidates in later stages of clinical development generally have higher development costs than those in earlier stages of clinical development, primarily due to increased scale and duration.

 

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We cannot determine with certainty the duration and costs of future clinical trials of FX-322 or any other product candidate we may develop or if, when, or to what extent we will generate revenue from the commercialization and sale of any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval. The duration, costs, and timing of clinical trials and development of FX-322 and any other product candidate we may develop will depend on a variety of factors, including:

 

 

the scope, rate of progress, expense and results of clinical trials of FX-322, as well as of any future clinical trials of other product candidates and other research and development activities that we may conduct;

 

 

the actual probability of success for our product candidates, including their safety and efficacy, early clinical data, competition, manufacturing capability, and commercial viability;

 

 

significant and changing government regulation and regulatory guidance;

 

 

the timing and receipt of any marketing approvals;

 

 

the progress of the development efforts of parties with whom we may enter into collaboration agreements;

 

 

our ability to secure manufacturing supply through relationships with third parties;

 

 

the commercialization of our product candidates, if and when approved;

 

 

raising additional funds necessary to complete preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates; and

 

 

the expense of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and other intellectual property rights.

A change in the outcome of any of these variables with respect to the development of a product candidate could mean a significant change in the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and other related costs, including stock-based compensation, for personnel in our executive, finance, business development, and administrative functions. General and administrative expenses also include legal fees relating to intellectual property and corporate matters; professional fees for accounting, auditing, tax and consulting services; insurance costs; travel expenses; and facility-related expenses, which include direct depreciation costs and expenses for rent and maintenance of facilities, and other operating costs that are not specifically attributable to research and development activities.

We expect that our general and administrative expenses will increase in the future as we increase our personnel headcount to support our continued research activities and development of product candidates. Following this offering, we also expect to incur increased expenses associated with being a public company, including costs of accounting, audit, legal, regulatory, and tax-related services associated with maintaining compliance with the requirements of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC and the SEC; director and officer insurance costs; and investor and public relations costs.

Interest income

Interest income consists of interest earned on cash equivalents and short-term investments.

 

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Interest expense

Interest expense consists of interest paid on convertible notes payable which were converted in our Series A convertible preferred stock financing in 2017 and our Series B convertible preferred stock financing in 2018.

Realized gain on investments

Realized gain on investments represents the gain realized on our marketable securities in the six months ended June 30, 2019.

Loss on extinguishment of debt

In 2015 and 2016, we issued notes payable, which were convertible at a 20% discount to the price of shares issued in a qualified financing. In March 2017, the notes payable converted into Series A convertible preferred stock at a 20% discount to the price of the Series A convertible preferred stock, which we recorded as a $3.7 million loss on extinguishment of debt. In 2018, we issued notes payable, which were convertible at a 5% discount to the price of shares issued in a qualified financing. In October 2018, the notes payable converted into Series B convertible preferred stock at a 5% discount to the price of the Series B convertible preferred stock, which we recorded as a $0.3 million loss on extinguishment of debt.

Foreign exchange gain (loss)

Foreign exchange gain (loss) represents the gain or loss recorded as a result of remeasuring the financial statements of our foreign subsidiaries.

Income taxes

Since our inception in 2014, we have generated cumulative federal and state net operating loss and research and development credit carryforwards for which we have not recorded any net tax benefit due to uncertainty around utilizing these tax attributes within their respective carryforward periods.

As of December 31, 2018, we had federal net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, of approximately $39.3 million and Massachusetts state NOLs of approximately $31.7 million which may be available to offset future taxable income. Our federal NOLs include $22.4 million available to reduce future taxable income through 2037 and approximately $16.9 million of NOLs that do not expire and are available to reduce future taxable income indefinitely. The state NOLs are available to offset future taxable income through 2038. As of December 31, 2018, we also had federal and Massachusetts research and development tax credit carryforwards of $0.7 million and $0.4 million, respectively, which are available to offset federal and state tax liabilities through 2038 and 2033, respectively.

Realization of future tax benefits is dependent on many factors, including our ability to generate taxable income within the NOL period. NOL and tax credit carryforwards may become subject to an annual limitation in the event of certain cumulative changes in the ownership interest of significant shareholders over a three-year period in excess of 50%, as provided under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, as well as under similar state provisions. These ownership changes may limit the amount of NOLs that can be utilized annually to offset future taxable income. In general, an ownership change, as defined under Section 382 of the Code, or Section 382, results from transactions increasing the ownership of certain shareholders or public groups in the stock of a corporation by more than 50% over a three-year period. We have completed several financings and have conducted a study to assess whether a change of control has occurred or whether there have been multiple changes of control since inception and have determined that an

 

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ownership change did occur in March 2017. Accordingly, utilization of $12.4 million of the federal NOLs that were incurred prior to March 2017 (pre-ownership change) is limited under Section 382. After the Section 382 limitations, we may utilize approximately $10.8 million of our pre-ownership change NOLs based upon an annual usage of approximately $1.6 million for each of the next five years after the ownership change and approximately $0.2 million for each of the 15 years thereafter. The remaining pre-ownership change NOLs of approximately $1.6 million were written off due to expiration under limitation. The limitation has been determined by first multiplying the value of our stock at the time of the ownership change by the applicable long-term tax-exempt rate. These NOLs may be subject to further annual limitations under Section 382 in the event of future changes in ownership.

In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into U.S. law. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included a number of changes to the tax law, including, among other things, a permanent reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate from a top marginal tax rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, which went into effect on January 1, 2018, as well as a limitation of the deduction for NOLs to 80% of annual taxable income, and elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, in each case, for losses arising in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 (though any such NOLs may be carried forward indefinitely). The federal tax rate change resulted in a reduction in the gross amount of our deferred tax assets and liabilities recorded as of December 31, 2017, and a corresponding reduction in our valuation allowance. As a result, no income tax expense or benefit was recognized as of the enactment date of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Results of operations

Comparison of six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019

The following table summarizes our results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019:

 

     
     Six months ended
June 30,
    Increase
(Decrease)
 
      2018     2019  
     (in thousands)  

Revenue

   $     $     $  
  

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

      

Research and development

     5,409       7,367       1,958  

General and administrative

     3,153       5,568       2,415  
  

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

     8,562       12,935       4,373  
  

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (8,562     (12,935     4,373  

Interest income

           218       (218

Interest expense

     (32           (32

Realized gain on investments

           26       (26

Foreign exchange gain (loss)

     9       13       (4
  

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (8,585   $ (12,678   $ 4,093  

 

 

Revenue

We had no revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019.

 

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Research and development expenses

 

     
     Six months ended
June 30,
     Increase
(Decrease)
 
      2018      2019  
     (in thousands)  

Direct research and development expenses by product candidate:

        

FX-322 external development costs

   $ 1,072      $ 1,616      $ 544  

Platform development, early-stage research and unallocated expenses:

        

Employee-related costs

     2,283        3,399        1,116  

Laboratory supplies

     156        156         

Outsourced research and development

     1,347        1,605        258  

Facility-related costs

     431        395        (36

Depreciation and amortization

     120        196        76  

Other research and development costs

                    
  

 

 

 

Total research and development expenses

   $ 5,409      $ 7,367      $ 1,958  

 

 

Research and development expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2018 were $5.4 million, compared to $7.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. The increase of $2.0 million was primarily due to an increase of $0.5 million in FX-322 external research and development expenses and an increase of $1.4 million in platform development, early-stage research and unallocated expenses. The $1.6 million of FX-322 external development costs incurred for the six months ended June 30, 2019 consisted primarily of approximately $1.2 million of clinical development costs for the Phase 1 clinical trial, including manufacturing costs for FX-322 to be used in clinical trials, and approximately $0.4 million of outside consulting costs. The $1.1 million of FX-322 external development costs incurred in the six months ended June 30, 2018 consisted primarily of approximately $0.2 million of preclinical costs for safety testing and consulting, and approximately $0.9 million related to conducting the Phase 1 clinical trial. FX-322 external development costs for the six months ended June 30, 2019 are presented net of approximately $0.2 million in research and development tax credits received from the Australian government related to our Phase 1 clinical trial conducted in Australia.

Platform development, early-stage research and unallocated expenses were $4.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018, compared to $5.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. The increase of $1.5 million was primarily due to a $0.3 million increase in outsourced research and development spending on our development programs, excluding our FX-322 program, and $1.1 million of increased employee-related costs associated with increased headcount to support our preclinical and clinical development of FX-322 and research on our PCA platform development.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative expenses were $3.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018, compared to $5.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. General and administrative expenses increased by $2.4 million due to increased business development activities, increases in the infrastructure necessary to manage research and development and fundraising activities, an increase of $0.4 million in audit, tax and consulting fees, $0.6 million in legal and patent filing fees incurred to file and defend intellectual property, $0.3 million in corporate legal fees and $0.8 million in employee-related costs as we increased our general and administrative headcount to manage our growth.

 

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Interest income

Interest income was $0.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019 due to an increase in cash equivalents and short-term investments. We did not have interest income in the six months ended June 30, 2018.

Interest expense

Interest expense was $32 thousand for the six months ended June 30, 2018. This represents interest on convertible notes payable issued in 2018 and converted into Series B convertible preferred stock in 2018. We did not incur interest expenses in the six months ended June 30, 2019.

Realized gain on investments

Realized gain on investments was $26 thousand for the six months ended June 30, 2019 due to our purchasing short-term marketable securities in 2019. We held no investments in the six months ended June 30, 2018.

Foreign exchange gain (loss)

Foreign exchange gain was $9 thousand for the six months ended June 30, 2018, compared to a foreign exchange gain of $13 thousand for the six months ended June 30, 2019. The decrease of $4 thousand was due to differences in foreign exchange remeasurement of the financial statements of our foreign subsidiaries.

Comparison of years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018

The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018:

 

     
     Years ended
December 31,
    Increase
(Decrease)
 
      2017     2018  
     (in thousands)  

Revenue

   $     $     $  

Operating expenses:

      

Research and development

     11,966       11,880       (86

General and administrative

     4,340       7,064       2,724  
  

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

     16,306       18,944       2,638  
  

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (16,306     (18,944     (2,638
  

 

 

 

Interest expense

     (174     (106     68  

Loss on extinguishment of debt

     (3,749     (269     3,480  

Foreign exchange gain (loss)

     (8     151       159  
  

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (20,237   $ (19,168   $ 1,069  

 

 

Revenue

We had no revenue for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018.

 

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Research and development expenses

 

     
     Years ended
December 31,
     Increase
(Decrease)
 
      2017      2018  
     (in thousands)  

Direct research and development expenses by product candidate:

        

FX-322 external development costs

   $ 6,948      $ 2,669      $ (4,279

Platform development, early-stage research and unallocated expenses:

        

Employee-related costs

     3,155        4,432        1,277  

Laboratory supplies

     409        313        (96

Outsourced research and development

     635        3,395        2,760  

Facility-related costs

     414        362        (52

Depreciation and amortization

     180        300        120  

Other research and development costs

     225        409        184  
  

 

 

 

Total research and development expenses

   $ 11,966      $ 11,880      $ (86

 

 

Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2017 were $12.0 million, compared to $11.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease of $0.1 million in 2018 was primarily due to a decrease of $4.3 million in FX-322 external research and development expenses and a comparable increase of $4.2 million in platform development, early-stage research, and unallocated expenses. The $6.9 million of FX-322 external development costs incurred in 2017 consisted primarily of approximately $4.5 million of preclinical costs, including $3.2 million for toxicology and the manufacture of FX-322 for toxicity testing, and approximately $2.4 million of clinical development costs for conducting the Phase 1 clinical trial and manufacturing FX-322 to be used in the Phase 1 clinical trial and in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial conducted in 2018. The $2.7 million of FX-322 external development costs incurred in 2018 consisted primarily of approximately $1.6 million of preclinical costs for safety testing and consulting and approximately $1.1 million of costs of conducting the Phase 1 clinical trial and the Phase 1/2 clinical trial. FX-322 external development costs for the year ended December 31, 2018 are presented net of approximately $0.7 million in research and development tax credits received from the Australian government related to our Phase 1 clinical trial conducted in Australia.

Platform development, early-stage research, and unallocated expenses were $5.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, compared to $9.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase of $4.2 million in 2018 is primarily due to a $2.8 million increase in outsourced research and development spending on our development programs, excluding our FX-322 program. This includes approximately $1.7 million of outsourced research to Scripps for our MS program, including an upfront $1.0 million license fee. We also incurred $1.3 million of increased employee-related cost associated with increased headcount to support our preclinical and clinical development of FX-322 and research on our PCA platform development.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative expenses were $4.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, compared to $7.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. General and administrative expenses increased by $2.8 million in 2018 due to increased business development activities, increase in the infrastructure necessary to manage research and development, and fund raising activities. Contributing to the increase were increases of $0.8 million in audit, tax, and consulting fees, $0.5 million in legal and patent filing fees incurred to file and defend intellectual property, $0.4 million in corporate legal fees, and $0.5 million in employee-related costs as we increased our general and administrative headcount to manage our growth.

 

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Loss on extinguishment of debt

Loss on extinguishment of debt was $3.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, compared to $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease of $3.5 million in loss on extinguishment of debt was due to the lower discount rate of 5% upon conversion of the notes payable that converted in 2018 compared to the discount rate of 20% for notes payable that converted in 2017 and the lower amount of notes that converted in 2018 compared to 2017.

Interest expense

Interest expense was $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease of $0.1 million was due to lower amounts outstanding under convertible notes payable.

Foreign exchange gain (loss)

Foreign exchange loss was $8 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2017, compared to a foreign exchange gain of $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase of $0.2 million was due to differences in foreign exchange remeasurement of the financial statements of our foreign subsidiaries.

Liquidity and capital resources

Since our inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future as we advance the preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates. We expect that our research and development and general and administrative costs will continue to increase, including in connection with conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials for our product candidates, contracting with contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, to support preclinical studies and clinical trials, expanding our intellectual property portfolio, and providing general and administrative support for our operations. As a result, we will need additional capital to fund our operations, which we may obtain from additional equity or debt financings, collaborations, licensing arrangements or other sources.

We do not currently have any approved products and have never generated any revenue from product sales. We have financed our operations primarily through proceeds from the sale of our convertible notes and convertible preferred stock. To date, we have raised approximately $228.0 million through a combination of convertible notes, convertible preferred stock financings (including our Series C convertible preferred stock), the upfront payment under the Astellas agreement, and grants. Our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $31.5 million as of June 30, 2019. We had no indebtedness as of June 30, 2019. In July 2019, we closed our Series C convertible preferred stock financing, in which we issued 39,492,960 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $62.0 million. In connection with our receipt of the upfront payment of $80.0 million under the Astellas Agreement, we are obligated to pay $16.0 million to MIT under the MIT License in satisfaction of a royalty owed to MIT upon receipt of such upfront payment.

 

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Cash flows

The following table summarizes our sources and uses of cash for the periods presented:

 

     
     Years ended
December 31,
    Six months ended
June 30,
 
      2017     2018     2018     2019  
     (in thousands)  

Net cash used in operating activities

   $ (14,614   $ (17,024   $ (8,581   $ (10,622

Net cash used in investing activities

     (1,863     (436     (196     (28,328

Net cash provided by financing activities

     27,978       41,712       6,550       430  
  

 

 

 

Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

   $ 11,501     $ 24,252     $ (2,227   $ (38,520

 

 

Cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019

Operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the six months ended June 30, 2019 was $10.6 million, primarily consisting of a net loss of $12.7 million as we incurred expenses associated with our FX-322 program, platform development and early-stage research, and general and administrative expenses. In addition, we had non-cash charges of $2.0 million for depreciation, stock-based compensation expense and deferred lease incentives. Net cash used in operating activities was also impacted by a net $0.1 million change in operating assets and liabilities, including an increase of $0.4 million in accounts payable and $0.7 million in accrued expenses, which were partially offset by an increase of $1.0 million in grants receivable, prepaid expenses and other current assets.

Net cash used in operating activities for the six months ended June 30, 2018 was $8.6 million, primarily consisting of a net loss of $8.6 million as we incurred expenses associated with our FX-322 program, platform development and early-stage research, and general and administrative expenses. In addition, we had non-cash charges of $0.4 million for depreciation, stock-based compensation expense and deferred lease incentives. Net cash used in operating activities was also impacted by a net $(0.4) million change in operating assets and liabilities, including an increase of $0.2 million in accounts payable, and a decline of $(0.3) million in accrued expenses, which were partially offset by an increase of $0.3 million in grants receivable, prepaid expenses and other current assets.

Investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2019 was $28.3 million, which was attributable to $0.5 million of purchases of property and equipment and $27.8 million of net purchases of marketable securities.

Net cash used in investing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2018 was $0.2 million, which was attributable to purchases of property and equipment.

Financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2019 was $0.4 million, consisting of proceeds from the issuance of our Series B convertible preferred stock of $0.3 million and $0.1 million of proceeds from the exercise of stock options.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2018 was $6.6 million, consisting of $4.7 million in proceeds received upon the issuance of convertible notes payable and $38 thousand of proceeds

 

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from the exercise of stock options. We also issued shares of preferred stock in Frequency Japan, our majority-owned subsidiary, for proceeds of $1.8 million, which has been recorded as a liability.

Cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2018

Operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $17.0 million, primarily consisting of a net loss of $19.2 million as we incurred expenses associated with our FX-322 program, platform development and early-stage research, and general and administrative expenses. In addition, we had non-cash charges of $1.3 million for depreciation, stock-based compensation expense, non-cash interest expense, loss on extinguishment of debt, and deferred lease incentives. Net cash used in operating activities was also impacted by $0.8 million in changes in operating assets and liabilities, including $0.8 million in accounts payable, and $0.7 million in accrued expenses, which were partially offset by an increase of $0.7 million in grants receivable, prepaid expenses, and other current assets.

Investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $0.4 million, which was attributable to purchases of property and equipment.

Financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $41.7 million, consisting primarily of the net proceeds from the issuance of our Series B convertible preferred stock financing of $37.8 million, including the issuance and subsequent conversion of $5.0 million notes payable into Series B convertible preferred stock and net of offering costs. We also issued shares of preferred stock in Frequency Therapeutics Japan KK, our majority-owned subsidiary, in 2018 for proceeds of $3.8 million, which has been recorded as a liability.

Cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2017

Operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $14.6 million, primarily consisting of our net loss of $20.2 million as we incurred expenses associated with preclinical and clinical activities on our FX-322 program, research activities on other applications for our PCA platform, and incurred general and administrative expenses. In addition, we had non-cash charges of $5.3 million for depreciation, stock-based compensation expense, non-cash interest expense, loss on extinguishment of debt, deferred lease incentives, and the issuance of common stock for a license agreement. Net cash used in operating activities was also impacted by $0.3 million in changes in operating assets and liabilities, including $0.4 million in accrued expenses, which was partially offset by a decrease in accounts payable of $0.2 million and an increase of $0.1 million in grants receivable, prepaid expenses, and other current assets.

Investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $1.9 million, which was attributable to purchases of property and equipment.

Financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $28.0 million, primarily consisting of the net proceeds from the issuance of our Series A convertible preferred stock, net of expenses.

 

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Funding requirements

Our operating expenses increased substantially in the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 and the six months ended June 30, 2019, and are expected to increase substantially in the future in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we advance FX-322 through clinical trials and as we research and develop additional product candidates including preclinical activities, studies for Investigational New Drug applications, and initiation of human clinical trials. In addition, following the closing of this offering, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company.

Specifically, our costs and expenses will increase as we:

 

 

advance the clinical development of FX-322;

 

 

pursue the preclinical and clinical development of other product candidates using our PCA platform, including our program for the treatment of MS;

 

 

in-license or acquire the rights to other products, product candidates or technologies;

 

 

maintain, expand, and protect our intellectual property portfolio;

 

 

hire additional personnel in research, manufacturing, and regulatory and clinical development, as well as management personnel; and

 

 

expand our operational, financial, and management systems and increase personnel, including personnel to support our operations as a public company.

We believe that the anticipated net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through                 . We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, and we could utilize our available capital resources sooner than we expect.

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the research, development, and commercialization of therapeutics, it is difficult to estimate with certainty the amount of our working capital requirements. Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including:

 

 

the progress, costs, and results of our clinical development and clinical trials for FX-322;

 

 

the progress, costs, and results of our additional research and preclinical development programs, including our program for the treatment of MS;

 

 

the outcome, timing and cost of meeting regulatory requirements established by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, if applicable, for our product candidates;

 

 

the costs and timing of internal process development, manufacturing activities, and clinical trial management associated with FX-322 and other product candidates we advance through preclinical and clinical development;

 

 

our ability to establish and maintain strategic collaborations, licensing or other agreements and the financial terms of such agreements;

 

 

the scope, progress, results, and costs of any product candidates that we may derive from our PCA platform or any other product candidates we may develop alone or with collaborators;

 

 

the extent to which we in-license or acquire rights to other products, product candidates, or technologies;

 

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additions or departures of key scientific or management personnel;

 

 

the costs and timing of preparing, filing, and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and protecting our intellectual property rights, and defending against any intellectual property-related claims; and

 

 

the costs and timing of future commercialization activities, including product manufacturing, marketing, sales, and distribution for any product candidates for which we or our collaborators obtain marketing approval.

Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of public or private equity or debt financings and other sources, which may include current and new collaborations with third parties. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise additional funds through other sources, such as collaboration agreements, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements or marketing and distribution arrangements, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, product development, and research programs or product candidates, or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce, or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market products or product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

Contractual obligations and commitments

The following is a summary of our contractual obligations and commitments as of December 31, 2018:

 

   
     Payments due by period  
      Total      Less than
1 year
     1 - 3 years      3 - 5 years      More than
5 years
 
     (in thousands)  

Operating lease obligation(1)

   $ 1,006      $ 346      $ 660      $      $  

 

 

 

(1)   Represents future minimum lease payments under our operating leases for office and laboratory space at our Woburn, Massachusetts and Farmington, Connecticut facilities (see Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for additional information on these lease agreements).

We have not included future milestone payments under our collaboration and license agreements in the table above since the payment obligations under these agreements are contingent upon future events, such as the achievement of specified product development milestones or generating product sales, and we are unable to estimate the timing or likelihood of achieving these milestones or generating future product sales. We are also required to spend certain minimum amounts on research and development of licensed products or processes under the MIT License, and may have certain funding obligations under the Scripps option agreement, which are not included in the table above. See “—License and collaboration agreements” for more information regarding our payment obligations under these agreements.

We also enter into contracts in the normal course of business with CROs, CMOs, universities, and other third parties for preclinical research studies, clinical trials and testing and manufacturing services. These contracts do not contain minimum purchase commitments and are cancelable by us upon prior written notice. Payments due upon cancellation consist only of payments for services provided or expenses incurred, including noncancelable obligations of our service providers, up to the date of cancellation. These payments are not included in the table above as the amount and timing of such payments are not known.

 

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Critical accounting policies and use of estimates

Our management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, costs and expenses, and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our consolidated financial statements. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events, and various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

While our significant accounting policies are described in more detail in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus, we believe that the following accounting policies are those most critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

Accrued research and development expenses

As part of the process of preparing our consolidated financial statements, we are required to estimate our accrued research and development expenses. This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our personnel to identify services that have been performed on our behalf, and estimating the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the services when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of the actual costs. Most of our service providers invoice us in arrears for services performed, on a pre-determined schedule or when contractual milestones are met; however, some require advance payments. We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in our consolidated financial statements based on facts and circumstances known to us at that time. Examples of estimated accrued research and development expenses include fees paid to the following:

 

 

CROs and other third parties in connection with performing research and development activities and conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials on our behalf;

 

 

vendors in connection with preclinical development activities; and

 

 

CMOs and other vendors in connection with product manufacturing and development and distribution of preclinical supplies.

We base our expenses related to preclinical studies on our estimates of the services received and efforts expended pursuant to quotes and contracts with CROs that conduct and manage preclinical studies and clinical trials and CMOs that manufacture product for our research and development activities on our behalf. The financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation, vary from contract to contract, and may result in uneven payment flows. There may be instances in which payments made to our vendors will exceed the level of services provided and result in a prepayment of the expense. In accruing fees, we estimate the time period over which services will be performed and the level of effort to be expended in each period. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from our estimate, we adjust the accrual or amount of prepaid expense accordingly. Although we do not expect our estimates to be materially different from amounts actually incurred, our understanding of the status and timing of services performed relative to the actual status and timing of services performed may vary and may cause us to report amounts that are too high or too low in any particular period. To date, we have not made any material adjustments to our prior estimates of accrued research and development expenses.

 

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Stock-based compensation

We measure stock options and other stock-based awards granted to our employees, directors, consultants, advisors based on the fair value on the date of the grant, awards, net of actual forfeitures, over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. For stock-based awards granted to non-employees, compensation expense is recognized over the period during which services are rendered by such non-employees until completed.

We estimate the fair value of each stock option grant on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which uses as inputs the fair value of our common stock and assumptions we make for the volatility of our common stock, the expected term of our stock options, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term of our stock options, and our expected dividend yield.

Determination of fair value of common stock

As there has been no public market for our common stock to date, the estimated fair value of our common stock has been determined by our board of directors as of the date of each option grant, with input from management, taking into consideration our most recently available third-party valuations of common stock at the time of the grants, as well as our board of directors’ assessment of additional objective and subjective factors that it believed were relevant and which may have changed from the date of the most recent valuation through the date of the grant. Third-party valuations, or valuation reports, were performed in accordance with the guidance outlined in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Accounting and Valuation Guide, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation.

Our common stock valuation reports were prepared using a market approach, utilizing either the guideline M&A or guideline public company methodologies. Under the guideline M&A methodology, a set of mergers and acquisitions within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries for similar stage companies were reviewed and an applicable equity value was selected to apply to our company. Under the guideline public company methodology, the market capitalizations of similar public companies were analyzed, and an applicable capitalization for our company was selected based on qualitative and quantitative factors.

For each valuation report, an option pricing allocation method, or OPM, was selected to allocate the total equity value across the various securities outstanding at the time of the valuation. The OPM treats common stock and preferred stock as call options on the total equity value of a company, with exercise prices based on the value thresholds at which the allocation among the various holders of a company’s securities changes. These third-party valuations resulted in a valuation of our common stock of $0.09, $0.26, $0.50 and $1.11 per share as of May 15, 2018, October 31, 2018, March 31, 2019 and July 19, 2019, respectively.

In addition to considering the results of the valuation reports, our board of directors considered various objective and subjective factors to determine the fair value of our common stock as of each grant date, including:

 

 

the prices at which we sold shares of convertible preferred stock and the superior rights and preferences of the convertible preferred stock relative to our common stock at the time of each grant;

 

 

the progress of our research and development programs, including the status and results of preclinical studies and clinical trials for our product candidates;

 

 

our stage of development and commercialization and our business strategy;

 

 

external market conditions affecting the biotechnology industry and trends within that industry;

 

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our financial position, including cash on hand, and our historical and forecasted performance and operating results;

 

 

the lack of an active public market for our common stock and our convertible preferred stock;

 

 

the likelihood of achieving a liquidity event, such as an initial public offering, or IPO, or sale of our company considering prevailing market conditions; and

 

 

the analysis of IPOs and the market performance of similar companies in the biotechnology industry.

The assumptions underlying these valuations represented management’s best estimate, which involved inherent uncertainties and the application of management’s judgment. As a result, if we had used different assumptions or estimates, the fair value of our common stock and our stock-based compensation expense could have been materially different.

Once a public trading market for our common stock has been established in connection with the closing of this offering, it will no longer be necessary for our board of directors to estimate the fair value of our common stock in connection with our accounting for granted stock options and other such awards we may grant, as the fair value of our common stock will be determined based on the quoted market price of our common stock.

Recent accounting pronouncements

A description of recent accounting pronouncements that may potentially impact our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows is disclosed in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Off-balance sheet arrangements

We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined under SEC rules.

Quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk

We are exposed to market risks in the ordinary course of our business. These risks primarily include interest rate sensitivities. Our interest-earning assets consist of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, which are denominated in U.S. dollars. We had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $31.5 million, or 90.0% of our total assets, at June 30, 2019. Interest income earned on these assets was $0.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. Our interest income is sensitive to changes in the general level of interest rates, primarily U.S. interest rates. Such interest-earning instruments carry a degree of interest rate risk; however, a change by 10% in interest rates would not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations. We had no debt outstanding as of June 30, 2019.

Emerging growth company status

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 permits an “emerging growth company,” such as us, to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of this extended transition period.

 

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Business

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on harnessing the body’s innate biology to repair or reverse damage caused by a broad range of degenerative diseases. Our proprietary approach, called Progenitor Cell Activation, or PCA, uses combinations of small molecules to activate progenitor cells within the body to create functional tissue. Further, these progenitor cells, which are closely related to stem cells, are already resident in the targeted location in the body and programmed to develop and differentiate into specific cell types within an organ.

In less than five years from our founding, we have moved from PCA discovery research to completing a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in which we observed a statistically significant improvement in word recognition, or WR, a key measure of hearing function, in patients with stable sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL, for our lead product candidate, FX-322. We recently entered into a license and collaboration agreement, or the Astellas Agreement, with Astellas Pharma, Inc., or Astellas, under which we granted them rights to develop and commercialize FX-322 outside of the United States. We are also applying our PCA platform in a discovery program for the remyelination of nerves in patients with multiple sclerosis, or MS, and are advancing this program in collaboration with The Scripps Research Institute, or Scripps.

Our initial therapeutic focus is SNHL, which is the most prevalent type of hearing loss, typically caused by permanent loss of sensory hair cells in the cochlea within the ear. Cochlear hair cells can be lost by noise exposure or as a result of aging, certain viral infections or exposure to ototoxic drugs. We are developing FX-322 to treat the underlying cause of SNHL, which is the loss of hair cells. FX-322 is intended to regenerate hair cells through the activation of progenitor cells already present in the cochlea.

To date, no drug therapies have been approved by the FDA or, to our knowledge, by other regulatory bodies, for the treatment of SNHL. Existing devices such as hearing aids amplify sounds but do not replace hair cells, which have roles in clarifying sound and improving speech intelligibility, particularly in noisy environments. While hearing loss is often thought to be caused by aging, the condition is strongly correlated with living in an industrialized society. According to the World Health Organization, or WHO, more than 800 million adults suffer from hearing loss worldwide, and, according to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, more than 90% of people with hearing loss have SNHL. Based on our estimates, we believe that 59 million people in the United States alone have SNHL. The WHO also estimates that 1.1 billion children and adults ages 12 to 35 years old are at risk for hearing loss from recreational noise exposure.

We believe that FX-322 has the potential to meaningfully improve overall hearing function and enhance quality of life. In our Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating FX-322 in 23 patients with stable SNHL, we observed a statistically significant improvement in WR, a key measure of hearing function, and FX-322 was observed to be well-tolerated. We intend to commence a Phase 2a clinical trial of FX-322 in patients with SNHL in the fourth quarter of 2019 and anticipate reporting top-line results from this trial in the second half of 2020.

In July 2019, we entered into the Astellas Agreement, under which Astellas is responsible for the development and commercialization of FX-322 outside of the United States. Astellas agreed to make an upfront payment to us of $80.0 million. We may also receive up to an additional $545.0 million based on development and commercial milestones, as well as royalties on any future product sales.

In a second program using our PCA platform, we are working to identify a product candidate for the treatment of MS. This program focuses on activating progenitor cells in the central nervous system to repair the myelin sheath that protects nerves and may have the potential to reverse damage done by the disease. We intend to

 

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submit an investigational new drug application, or IND, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, for an MS product candidate in the second half of 2021.

We believe our PCA platform has the potential to produce a new class of medicines and provide transformative benefits for patients across a wide range of degenerative conditions, including diseases of the muscle, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and bone. Our PCA platform has the following key attributes:

 

 

Activates progenitor cells in the right location. We overcome the major challenge of delivering and integrating cells into the proper location within tissue. Our small-molecule therapeutic candidates are designed to activate the body’s own progenitor cells at the desired location in targeted tissues.

 

 

Enables ease of manufacturing. We eliminate the need to remove and grow live cells ex vivo, which can be costly and complex to manufacture, difficult to control quality, and may pose potential safety risks. In contrast, our small-molecule therapeutic candidates will be produced using standard manufacturing methods.

 

 

Avoids permanent genetic changes. Instead of altering genes, our small molecules are designed to temporarily activate the native genes that play a central role in the development of organs and tissues. This small-molecule approach could create a disease-modifying or restorative effect without changing the body’s genetic code.

Our product pipeline

The following table summarizes our PCA therapeutic candidate pipeline and discovery research programs:

 

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We are also using our PCA platform to explore the potential development of therapeutic candidates in diseases of the muscle, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and bone.

Our team and history

Our company was founded in 2014 with the goal of creating medicines based on breakthrough research focused on activating the body’s regenerative potential. In their groundbreaking research, Professors Robert S. Langer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Jeffrey Karp at Harvard Medical School, decoded the natural signals between cells that make the intestine one of the most regenerative organs in the body through the continuous activation of progenitor cells. Recognizing that similar progenitor cells were present but inactive in other organs, they discovered how to adapt these natural signals using small molecules to temporarily activate progenitor cells in other organs, including the cochlea, and create a localized healing response. Using these insights, we are developing FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, and, in a Phase 1/2 trial of FX-322 in stable hearing loss patients, we have observed statistically significant improvement in WR , a key measure of hearing function. Further, we have identified several additional potential indications for our PCA platform and expanded our team to incorporate domain expertise to pursue our goal of becoming a fully integrated biotechnology company.

 

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Our leadership team includes experienced biotech executives David L. Lucchino, our Chief Executive Officer, Christopher R. Loose, our Chief Scientific Officer, Carl P. LeBel, our Chief Development Officer, and Will McLean, Vice President of Regenerative Medicine and a pioneer in inner ear stem cell biology. We have also assembled a world-class team of leaders in regenerative biology, otology, drug development, and drug delivery. Our Clinical Advisory Board is comprised of leaders in hearing science and technology who shape how the community thinks about hearing function and restoration. Our Regenerative Medicine Advisory Board members are at the forefront of scientific discovery on the activation of progenitor cells and their potential application to therapeutic interventions in diseases of multiple tissues and organs.

Our strategy

We intend to create and commercialize therapeutics to potentially transform the lives of patients by repairing or reversing damage done to cells, tissue, and organs. To do so, we are implementing the following strategies:

 

 

Advance development of FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL. We believe our lead product candidate has the potential to improve hearing function for the millions of patients affected by SNHL who currently have no therapeutic options. In our Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating FX-322 in 23 patients with stable SNHL, we observed a statistically significant improvement in WR, a key measure of hearing function. In addition, FX-322 was observed to be well-tolerated with no serious adverse effects. We plan to initiate a Phase 2a clinical trial of FX-322 in the fourth quarter of 2019, and expect to report top-line data in the second half of 2020. We have submitted an application for Fast-Track Designation to the FDA for FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL in adults.

 

 

Establish our position as a leader in the field of hearing function. We plan to continue to grow our discovery organization and add experts in the field of otology to drive the optimization of our PCA approach for the treatment of hearing loss. We also plan to expand our presence in the field of hearing restoration and to work closely with the broader community of advocates, physicians, and payors to bring new treatments to patients globally.

 

 

Expand the opportunities of our PCA platform beyond hearing. We believe our PCA platform has the potential to address a wide range of clinical applications. We will continue to invest in research and development to enhance our PCA platform with the goal of delivering new therapeutics in additional indications, such as diseases of the muscle, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and bone. We identified MS as a disease where PCA has the potential to produce a restorative effect. We have obtained a worldwide license for intellectual property from Scripps on approaches to promote remyelination of nerve fibers. We are working to identify a product candidate for the treatment of MS and intend to submit an IND to the FDA for an MS product candidate in the second half of 2021.

 

 

Continue to build strategic collaborative relationships. Given the broad potential opportunity of our PCA platform, we believe entering into strategic research, development, and commercial collaborations in select therapeutic areas may provide an attractive avenue to facilitate the capital-efficient development of our PCA platform and product pipeline. We believe these strategic collaborations could potentially provide significant funding to advance our product candidates while allowing us to benefit from the development and therapeutic area expertise of our collaborators. We may collaborate with large pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, and academic institutions to maximize the potential of our PCA platform to create new therapies for patients.

 

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Our approach: Progenitor cell activation within the body

We are pioneering a new class of small-molecule therapeutics designed to activate progenitor cells already present within the body to create healthy functional tissues and organs. We developed our PCA platform to identify combinations of small molecules that selectively activate progenitor cells to regenerate tissues. Our initial therapeutic focus is SNHL. We believe that our preclinical and clinical studies in SNHL have validated the potential of our PCA platform to provide a new approach to regenerative medicine. Other potential applications of our PCA platform include, but are not limited to, diseases of the muscle, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and bone.

The graphic below illustrates the application of our PCA platform to activate progenitor cells and create healthy functioning target cells. Our small molecules are designed to activate key genes in a progenitor cell, which enable it to go through asymmetric division, leaving behind a copy of the progenitor cell as well as a functional cell, such as a hair cell. This asymmetric division process is commonly used during the natural development and repair of tissues.

 

 

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Relationship between stem cells and progenitor cells

All cells in the human body arise from a single unspecialized, or undifferentiated, cell type called a pluripotent stem cell. Two of the key characteristics of pluripotent stem cells are their ability to renew themselves through cell division and the ability to differentiate into any cell type. Progenitor cells have similar self-renewal properties as pluripotent stem cells. However, progenitor cells are programmed to develop and differentiate into specific cell types within an organ. This process can be visualized using Waddington’s epigenetic landscape, which depicts a pluripotent stem cell as a ball rolling down a hill as development progresses (see graphic below). As the ball commits to specific valleys, the cell becomes more specialized and increasingly commits to a tissue-specific fate, such as a progenitor cell. The progenitor cells are programmed to create specific cell types, and, in some cases, allow mature tissue and organs to repair and renew. However, researchers have discovered that many organs throughout the human body that do not spontaneously regenerate do contain inactive progenitor cells that, if stimulated, are potentially available to drive regeneration.

 

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Over the course of several decades, multiple attempts have been made to harness the regenerative potential of stem cells. More recently, the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Dr. Shinya Yamanaka for discovering how to create induced pluripotent stem cells by adding four genetic factors to a fully differentiated cell, as illustrated by the solid black arrow in the graphic below. However, the Yamanaka factors cannot be applied in vivo, and it has proven challenging to manufacture pluripotent or other human stem cells outside of the body and to control their differentiation to produce a particular cell type. Further, delivering and properly integrating these cells back into the body adds substantial complexity. Using another approach, some investigators have tried to force progenitor cells within the body to directly convert into other cell types through a process called trans-differentiation, as illustrated by the dotted black arrow in the graphic below. However, trans-differentiation may deplete progenitor cells, which reduces the target cell population for future treatments.

We believe that our PCA approach bypasses the challenges presented by stem cell therapies by utilizing small-molecule therapeutics to temporarily reactivate progenitor cells that are already located at the tissue target site within the body and are pre-programmed to make specific cell types. Our combinations of small molecules are designed to induce a progenitor cell to temporarily enter an active state, where it then divides asymmetrically, replacing itself (blue arrows) and regenerating a desired cell type (orange arrow). Asymmetric division occurs when organs naturally regenerate, so progenitor cells are thought to be maintained for future use.

 

 

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Key attributes of our PCA platform

Our discoveries in regenerative medicine allow us to activate the innate and under-utilized capabilities of progenitor cells. We believe our PCA platform represents a transformative step in the evolution of regenerative medicine by providing the following key attributes:

 

 

Activates progenitor cells in the right location. We overcome the major challenge of delivering and integrating cells into the proper location within tissue. Our small-molecule therapeutic candidates activate the body’s own progenitor cells at the desired location in targeted tissues.

 

 

Enables ease of manufacturing. We eliminate the need to remove and grow live cells ex vivo, which can be costly and complex to manufacture, difficult to control quality, and may pose potential safety risks. In

 

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contrast, our small-molecule therapeutic candidates will be produced using standard manufacturing methods.

 

 

Avoids permanent genetic changes.    Instead of altering genes, our small molecules are designed to temporarily activate the native genes that play a central role in the development of organs and tissues. This small-molecule approach could create a disease-modifying or restorative effect without changing the body’s genetic code. In addition, we believe we avoid the risk of acquiring immune reactivity to our therapeutics, which is commonly associated with genetically modifying cells.

Our therapeutic discovery process

We utilize a proprietary process to identify small-molecule combinations for activating progenitor cells.

 

 

Discovery in the right context. Traditional drug screening uses immortalized cell lines that are convenient for use in a laboratory but may not reflect the complex biology of tissue-specific cell types in the body. In our discovery process, we develop primary progenitor cell assays that are designed to maintain these cells in their natural state in order to increase the likelihood of successful drug discovery and translation into an effective tissue-specific therapeutic.

 

 

Decoding and controlling activation pathways for progenitor cells. We use our accumulated insights into progenitor cell signaling and aging to identify biological pathways that may activate a specific progenitor cell. We then select and apply combinations of small molecules from our proprietary toolbox of compounds to modulate the chosen biological pathways and achieve PCA.

By assessing our small-molecule combinations in a highly relevant context, we and our collaborators have applied this discovery process to identify compounds that activate progenitor cells in numerous tissues.

Our hearing program

We first applied our PCA platform to create FX-322, our lead product candidate designed to restore hearing function in patients with SNHL. We completed a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in 23 patients with stable SNHL in which we observed a statistically significant improvement in WR, a key measure of hearing function, and FX-322 was observed to be well-tolerated. We believe that FX-322 has the potential to meaningfully improve overall hearing function and significantly enhance quality of life for patients with hearing loss. We intend to commence a Phase 2a clinical trial of FX-322 in approximately 96 patients with SNHL in the fourth quarter of 2019, and expect to report top-line data from this trial in the second half of 2020.

Impact and prevalence of hearing loss

According to the WHO, approximately 800 million adults suffer from hearing loss worldwide, and, according to the NIH more than 90% of people with hearing loss have SNHL. Based on our estimates, we believe that 59 million people in the United States alone have SNHL. The WHO also estimates that 1.1 billion children and adults ages 12 to 35 years old are at risk for hearing loss from recreational noise exposure. In middle- and high-income countries, the WHO estimates that nearly 50% of people aged 12 to 35 listen to personal audio devices at unsafe sound levels. Moreover, damage from noise exposure in early childhood can render the ears more susceptible to the effects of aging. Noise exposure is difficult to avoid in modern society. Noise at restaurants, for example, routinely climbs into the high 70-decibel, or dB, range, equivalent to a canister vacuum cleaner, and sometimes to the mid-80 dB, as loud as a nearby diesel truck.

 

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U.S. prevalence of hearing loss, including prevalence of SNHL generally, moderate-to-profound SNHL, and diagnosis of SNHL, divided between hearing loss in one ear or both ears, is shown in the graph below, which is from a study commissioned by us from Health Advances LLC. According to the study, U.S. prevalence of hearing loss is estimated to grow to more than 78 million patients by 2025.

U.S. Hearing Loss Patient Population (2019)

 

 

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To date, no drug therapies have been approved by the FDA or, to our knowledge, by other regulatory bodies, for the treatment of SNHL. Existing hearing devices such as hearing aids make sounds louder but do not replace hair cells, which have roles in clarifying sound and improving speech intelligibility, particularly in noisy environments. While hearing loss is often thought to be caused by aging, the condition is strongly correlated with living in an industrialized society.

After a patient first complains of hearing loss, which is most often to their primary care physician, patients with SNHL are primarily managed by otolaryngologists, who are trained as ear, nose, and throat specialists, or ENTs. In the United States, there are about 12,000 audiologists and about 12,500 ENTs. Developing a therapeutic to potentially modify the underlying cause of SNHL may provide a critically important treatment option for this group of health-care providers and their patients.

There are also further direct and indirect impacts on individuals suffering from SNHL. Hearing loss profoundly affects an individual’s ability to participate in the social interactions of daily life, which can lead to feelings of loneliness, isolation, and frustration. Untreated hearing loss is associated with a 50% increase in dementia and a 40% increase in depression. Adults with hearing loss also have higher unemployment rates than non-hearing impaired adults, and a relationship between hearing loss and diminished employment and advancement opportunities has been reported.

 

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Biology and measurement of hearing

As shown in the figure below, we hear sounds when sound waves enter the external ear canal, causing the eardrum to vibrate. Small bones in the middle ear, called ossicles, transmit these vibrations to the inner ear and generate movement of the fluid in the cochlea, a portion of the inner ear that looks like a snail shell. This fluid movement causes hair cells within the cochlea to bend and in turn generate electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain via the auditory nerve. The cochlea is arranged so that hair cells at the base detect high frequencies and hair cells at the apex detect low frequencies.

 

 

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Humans are born with about 15,000 hair cells in the cochlea of each ear. Hair cells are commonly lost due to noise exposure in work settings, travel or leisure activities, or as a result of aging, certain viral infections or exposure to ototoxic drugs. Lost hair cells do not spontaneously regenerate. Over time, hearing loss can accumulate with greater prevalence at high frequencies. The left panel of the figure below shows a picture of the inside of a healthy cochlea, with one row of inner hair cells, or IHCs, and three rows of outer hair cells, or OHCs. OHCs amplify or dampen sound volume and tune the cochlea to detect specific frequencies. IHCs convert sound waves into nerve impulses that are sent to the auditory nerve. Functional hair cells allow the auditory system to focus on a sound and filter it appropriately throughout the cochlea. The right panel shows a cochlea after noise damage, with both IHCs and OHCs missing.

Healthy and Noise-Damaged Cochlea

 

 

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The two primary components for hearing testing are intelligibility, or the ability to understand spoken words, and the audibility or loudness of sound. While amplifying devices such as hearing aids can make sounds louder, they have limited ability to improve intelligibility, particularly in noisy environments. Intelligibility is particularly important to understand speech in social settings such as in meetings or at restaurants, where filtering sound is critical for communication.

 

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Intelligibility is typically measured by playing a list of words that are repeated back by the person being tested and scoring based on the number of words that the person gets correct. The two validated testing methods of speech intelligibility that are most widely used by audiologists are: word recognition, or WR, where patients are asked to identify monosyllabic words delivered at a loud, but conversational volume level, and words-in-noise, or WIN, where patients are asked to identify monosyllabic words in the presence of background, multi-talker noise. An example of a monosyllabic word list is shown below.

Monosyllabic Word Test Key

 

           
     Test Items   Whole Word
Response
(optional)
          Test Items   Whole Word
Response
(optional)
1.     GOOSE  

 

     26.   WRECK  

wretch

2.   NAME  

 

     27.   ROUT  

loud

3.   SHORE  

chore

     28.   BOAT  

bow

4.   BEAN  

bin

     29.   RIPE  

lie

5.   MERGE  

 

     30.   WHEEL  

feel

6.   DITCH  

 

     31.   DEAD  

 

7.   SUN  

some

     32.   SOB  

 

8.   TOUGH  

 

     33.   MESS  

 

9.   SEIZE  

size

     34.   WISH  

witch

10.   LEASE  

least

     35.   CHORE  

 

11.   HOME  

 

     36.   WOOD  

 

12.   JAR  

 

     37.   KING  

 

13.   PAD  

 

     38.   TOAD  

tow

14.   FALL  

sale

     39.   CHECK  

 

15.   VAN  

fan

     40   LOOP  

 

16.   JUG  

jump

     41.   LAG  

nag

17.   YEARN  

earn

     42.   SALVE  

sang

18.   MAKE  

mate

     43.   DIME  

time

19   GALE  

 

     44.   HULL  

 

20.   TOOTH  

toot

     45.   THIN  

fun

21.   PATCH  

 

     46.   SHIRT  

 

22.   BOIL  

foil

     47.   ROSE  

hose

23.   HATE  

gate

     48.   FIT  

sit

24.   PICK  

sick

     49.   KITE  

 

25.   KNIFE  

nice

     50.   CAPE  

kate

 

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Audibility is determined by measuring hearing function at different levels of loudness and pitch or frequency. Patients are most often tested using pure tone audiometry, in which a tone is played at a particular frequency and patients are asked to indicate whether they can hear the tone at varying levels of loudness. Loudness is recorded in dB. Frequency is recorded in Hertz, or Hz, and is generally measured in the range of 250 to 8000 Hz. According to the WHO, normal hearing is defined as the ability to hear sounds at a loudness value of less than 26 dB, which is the average of loudness values measured at a range of low, middle, and high frequencies, such as 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. The larger the loudness value needed for a patient to hear sounds the greater the decline in hearing function, or more severe hearing loss. The graphic below depicts the severity of hearing loss across a range of frequencies based on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association scale.

 

 

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Limitations of current treatment options

Current treatment options for hearing loss have significant limitations and none are disease modifying. The only available treatments for hearing loss are hearing aids, or in extreme cases, cochlear implants. No drug therapies have been approved by the FDA or, to our knowledge, by other regulatory bodies, for the treatment of SNHL.

Hearing aids

Hearing aids help many patients cope with mild-to-moderate hearing loss and are used by more than 12 million patients in the United States, or about 32% of people in the United States diagnosed with hearing loss. Limitations of hearing aids include:

 

 

Poor sound quality. Hearing aids amplify sounds, allowing patients to perceive sounds that would otherwise be too soft for them to hear, but do not address the loss of hair cells, which determine sound quality and intelligibility, particularly in noisy environments.

 

 

Challenges in social settings. The wide range of frequencies and sharp tuning provided by hair cells enables the auditory system to accurately recognize and distinguish different sounds, allowing the brain to focus on a single sound source. Hearing aids on the other hand typically amplify all sounds and do not enable this important sound-processing capability. As a result, interactions in social settings, which require distinguishing one speaker among many sound sources, are significantly impaired.

 

 

Difficulties with background noise. Patients with hearing loss may become more sensitive to background noise, and many patients with hearing aids turn them off in noisy environments.

 

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Stigma associated with wearing a visible device. Some patients refuse to wear hearing aids, or do not wear them regularly, as they do not want to be stigmatized or identified as having a physical handicap.

 

 

Need for maintenance. Hearing aids must be replaced, on average, every four to six years, need regular battery replacement, and can require repair due to damage during use. Medicare and most private insurance plans do not pay for hearing aids, and most patients must pay for these devices out of pocket.

Cochlear Implants

Patients with severe or profound hearing loss who have not been helped by hearing aids may be candidates for a cochlear implant. Of the roughly one million people in the United States who qualify, only about 100,000 patients have cochlear implants. Cochlear implants comprise an external microphone, sound processor and transmitter system, which receive sounds from the environment, and an implanted receiver and electrode system that directly stimulates the auditory nerve. Cochlear implants do not mimic natural hearing, and patients with cochlear implants need to learn to interpret the low-resolution electric signal produced by the device as sound. Cochlear implants also require an invasive, costly surgical procedure.

Our lead product candidate: FX-322

Using our PCA platform, we are developing our lead product candidate, FX-322, for the treatment of SNHL. FX-322 is designed to treat the underlying cause of SNHL by regenerating hair cells through activation of progenitor cells already present in the cochlea. We believe that FX-322 has the potential to meaningfully improve overall hearing function and significantly enhance quality of life for patients with hearing loss.

Mechanism of Action

By studying the most regenerative organ in the body, the intestine, we discovered that signaling for proliferation and differentiation among stem cells could be replicated with small molecules. Specifically, activating the Wnt pathway, which is fundamental for cell growth, using a glycogen synthase kinase 3, or GSK3, inhibitor and inhibiting histone deacetylase, or HDAC, caused intestinal stem cells expressing the protein Lgr5 to proliferate. The inner ear contains progenitor cells with the Lgr5 protein that do not regenerate on their own. On the hypothesis that these progenitor cells lacked the signals required for regeneration, we applied a GSK3 inhibitor and HDAC inhibitor to these cells and found that they proliferated and regenerated lost hair cells. Based on this discovery, we created FX-322, which is a proprietary combination of an FDA-approved HDAC inhibitor, sodium valproate, and a new chemical entity that inhibits GSK3.

Administration

FX-322 is our proprietary thermoreversible polymer formulation that is administered through the eardrum, or intratympanically, into the middle ear in a procedure that takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes. The intratympanic administration procedure is generally well-tolerated and is routinely performed by ENTs as an office-based procedure. FX-322, which is liquid at room temperature, gels at body temperature inside the middle ear, allowing the active ingredients to diffuse into the inner ear and reach the cochlea. Similar thermoreversible polymer formulations have been used in FDA-approved products for other indications in the ear.

 

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The image below shows delivery of FX-322 that turns to a gel in the middle ear. The drug diffuses into the cochlea and is expected to create the greatest concentration of drug in the high frequency region of the cochlea.

 

 

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Clinical results

Phase 1/2 clinical trial

We conducted a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of FX-322 in which we enrolled 23 adult patients aged 33 to 64 with an established diagnosis of mild to moderately severe stable SNHL, defined as the average pure tone value of 26 to 70 dB at the 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz frequencies, who had no change of 10 db or more at any frequency for more than six months. Fourteen patients had mild SNHL and nine patients had moderate to moderately severe SNHL. Of the nine moderate to moderately severe patients, six were randomized to FX-322 and three to placebo. In this trial, 15 patients were treated with a single injection of FX-322 and eight patients received placebo. Each patient had a documented medical history consistent with either noise-induced hearing loss, or NIHL, typically from noise exposure at work, or sudden SNHL, or SSNHL, which is characterized as a loss of 30 dB at three adjacent frequencies occurring over a 72-hour period. All patients had stable SNHL, meaning their hearing function at study entry was not significantly different based on a documented audiogram from at least six months prior to the study. Hearing function, specifically speech intelligibility, was assessed using WR and WIN. Hearing loudness was also measured using pure tone audiometry. Patients were randomized to a single injection of FX-322 or placebo administered at one of two different dose volumes (0.05 mL and 0.2 mL) to assess the safety of FX-322 administration and systemic exposure to FX-322. Follow-up visits occurred at 15, 30, 60, and 90 days after injection.

The objectives of the trial were to assess:

 

 

the systemic safety of FX-322;

 

 

the plasma pharmacokinetic profile to determine the systemic exposure to FX-322; and

 

 

the effect of FX-322 on measures of ear health and hearing function.

FX-322 was observed to be well-tolerated in this trial. No serious adverse events were observed, and all treatment-related adverse events were mild, procedure-related, and generally resolved within minutes after dosing. We also observed limited concentrations of the FX-322 components in systemic circulation.

 

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In addition to the prospective analysis, we conducted a prospective statistical analysis where we tested whether the Day 90 WR value for each patient fell outside of the 95% confidence interval compared to their baseline WR value. A confidence interval, or CI, is a range of values in which, statistically, there is a specified level of confidence where the result lies. In this patient-by-patient analysis, we observed statistically significant and clinically meaningful increases in WR in four of 15 patients treated with FX-322 at Day 90, who were among the six FX-322 patients that had moderate to moderately severe SNHL (shown in the figure below). There was no apparent association between WR improvements and whether the patients had stable NIHL, or stable SSNHL, and similar results were obtained with both dose volumes. This is consistent with published work showing drug delivery to the cochlea depends more on the concentration of the drug than the volume of injection. There were no clinically meaningful WR improvements observed in the placebo group.

 

 

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We also performed a post hoc analysis that showed a statistically significant improvement in WR by all FX-322-treated patients versus all placebo patients (p=0.01). A p value, as expressed in the data above, is the probability that the difference between two data sets was due to chance. The smaller the p value, the more likely the differences are not due to chance alone. In general, if the p value is less than or equal to 0.05, the outcome is statistically significant. The data are presented as adjusted mean relative percent change from baseline in the figure below. FX-322 treated patients saw improvements as early as 15 days after treatment that were sustained over 90 days.

Word Recognition

 

 

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We performed an additional post hoc analysis on WIN data. As shown in the figure below, the adjusted mean relative percent change from baseline was assessed at 15, 30, 60, and 90 days after injection, and a trend in improvement was seen in FX-322-treated patients versus placebo. Also, there were non-statistically significant trends in improved WIN scores at Day 90 in the four FX-322, treated patients that had statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in WR in the prospective statistical analysis.

Words-In-Noise

 

 

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We assessed audiometric changes from 250 Hz to 8000 Hz for all patients. Since drug enters closest to the high frequency region, the greatest drug exposure is expected to occur in the high frequency region. While no statistical differences were observed at any frequency when comparing pooled treatment groups, four of the moderate to moderately severe FX-322 patients showed a 10 dB threshold improvement at 8000 Hz at Day 90.

Planned Phase 2a clinical trial

Based on our analysis of the data from our Phase 1/2 clinical trial, we intend to initiate a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single- and repeat-dose Phase 2a clinical trial of FX-322 at approximately 12 sites in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2019. We plan to enroll approximately 96 adults aged 18 to 65 with stable SNHL. As in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial, patients must have a documented medical history consistent with either stable NIHL or stable SSNHL, with an average range of 26 to 70 dB loss measured by pure tone audiometry across four frequencies.

To explore how a single dose compares to multiple doses of FX-322, we plan to randomize patients to one of four groups, each of which will receive four injections, once per week at weekly intervals starting at the initial visit. Group 1 will receive one injection of FX-322 and three injections of placebo. Group two will receive two injections of FX-322 and two injections of placebo. Group three will receive four injections of FX-322. Group four will receive four injections of placebo. Patients will have follow-up visits two weeks after dosing and then monthly for seven months. The efficacy endpoints of this trial are expected to be WR, WIN, and pure tone audiometry in the range of 250 to 8000 Hz. The exploratory efficacy endpoints are expected to be the Tinnitus Functional Index, the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults, and pure tone audiometry in the range of 9000 to 16000 Hz. The selection of the efficacy endpoints in this study build on the learnings from the Phase 1/2 trial,

 

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and we believe will add to our knowledge on the potential ways in which FX-322 may improve hearing function. We expect to report top-line data from this trial in the second half of 2020. We may also conduct clinical research in presbycusis.

Preclinical studies

Prior to commencing clinical trials, we tested FX-322 in multiple preclinical studies, including in human cells ex vivo and functional hearing tests in mice in vivo. In in vitro testing of isolated human inner ear progenitor cells with the compounds comprising FX-322, we observed the formation of new progenitor cells and their subsequent conversion into hair cells. We also observed translation across species in our in vitro studies of the inner ear progenitor cells from rhesus macaques in which a similar expansion of cell numbers were observed as in the in vitro studies of human cells.

We also conducted ex vivo testing in intact cochlea isolated from mice. To cause hair cell loss, we exposed the cochlea for 16 hours to an aminoglycoside antibiotic that is toxic to hair cells. We then treated the cochlea for 72 hours with the compounds comprising the active agents in FX-322. Aminoglycoside treatment (left panel in the figure below) killed more than 80% of the hair cells in the cochlea (shown in green). By contrast, cochlea treated with the compounds in FX-322 (shown in the middle panel) regenerated hair cells to a near native level, as shown graphically in the right panel.

Restoration of Hair Cells in Mouse Cochlea

 

 

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We also tested FX-322 in a mouse model of severe noise-induced hearing loss. Following noise exposure, 47 mice were treated with FX-322 and 37 were treated with placebo. Hearing function was measured using auditory brainstem response, or ABR, in which the signal generated by the auditory nerve upon sensing sound is detected by electrodes on the scalp. We performed ABR testing after 24 hours, and measured hearing recovery after 30 days. The figure below shows the percentage of mice treated with FX-322 (shown in orange) or with placebo (shown in blue) that achieved a hearing recovery of at least 10 dB at 20000 Hz, a mid-range

 

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frequency for mice. The improvement observed in the placebo-treated mice was due to recovery of temporary effects not related to hair cell death, which is typical following acute hearing loss.

Hearing Recovery in Mice Treated with FX-322

 

 

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We have also conducted pharmacokinetic tests in multiple species in which we observed that FX-322 administration achieved therapeutic levels of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in the cochlea.

Our multiple sclerosis program

We have initiated a discovery program in MS after identifying MS as a degenerative disease that has the potential to be treated with small molecules that activate progenitor cells. In 2017, we initiated a relationship with Scripps, where researchers had discovered that anti-muscarinic agents activate oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in the brain. Oligodendrocytes are responsible for making myelin, the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers. We believe that stimulating progenitor cells in the central nervous system to grow oligodendrocytes could potentially reverse the damage caused by the immune system in MS.

The potential for anti-muscarinic drugs to treat the symptoms of MS was supported by an independently-run, double-blinded Phase 2 cross-over study entitled Clemastine Fumerate as a Remyelinating Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis (ReBUILD), conducted at the University of California, San Francisco. In the ReBUILD study, 50 adult, relapsing-remitting MS patients with optic neuropathy were randomized to either clemastine, which has anti-muscarinic and anti-histaminic activity, or placebo, both in combination with standard of care. The primary endpoint of the study was visual evoked potential, or VEP, a test commonly used for optic neuritis and other demyelinating events, such as MS. The results of this study were published in the Lancet, and showed a statistically significant improvement in VEP in patients treated using a single agent, clemastine.

We have been applying our expertise in finding synergistic combinations of small molecules for activating progenitor cells to the treatment of MS. We have licensed the worldwide rights to the related Scripps patent estate and are continuing to advance this discovery both on our own and through a sponsored research arrangement with Scripps. Through this work we have discovered combinations that enhance both in vitro and in vivo performance over single agents. We are working to identify a product candidate for the treatment of MS, and we plan to submit an IND to the FDA for an MS product candidate in the second half of 2021.

Overview of multiple sclerosis

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, nearly one million people in the United States are living with MS. The symptoms of MS include numbness or tingling, weakness, dizziness and vertigo, spasticity, vision problems, sexual problems, bladder or bowel problems, pain, cognitive changes, emotional changes, and depression. Most MS is relapsing-remitting MS in which patients experience periods of new or relapsing symptoms followed by recovery and periods of remission.

 

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The FDA has approved disease-modifying therapies for MS that reduce the immune system attack, which may reduce the number of relapses, delay progression of disability, and limit new disease activity. However, none of these products repair the central nervous system or lead to remyelination of the nerve fibers, and there is no cure for MS.

Leveraging our PCA platform for future applications

In addition to our hearing and MS programs, we believe our PCA platform has the potential to address a wide range of clinical applications. In directing our internal research, research collaborations, and in-licensing efforts, we intend to target areas of high unmet medical need for which the underlying disease process involves loss or degeneration of key cells that could be reversed using PCA. We believe the PCA platform could further be applied to diseases of the muscle, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and bone. We intend to continue to identify areas with high unmet need where our PCA platform and novel approach to regenerative medicine could lead to potentially disease-modifying therapeutics that create healthy functional tissues and improve patients’ lives.

Manufacturing

Our product candidates consist of small chemical compounds to stimulate cell and tissue regeneration in vivo. As a result, we can rely on the well-established and widely available manufacturing and drug-delivery technologies developed over decades by the pharmaceutical industry. We source our active pharmaceutical ingredients from contract manufacturers with a track record of FDA-compliant manufacturing. After rigorous internal and external quality control testing, we release these materials to additional contract manufacturers for formulation and packaging into final drug product for use in clinical testing. We expect to use a similar hybrid of internal and contract resources for commercialization of our products, at least until our operations reach a scale sufficient to justify investment in internal manufacturing capacity.

Commercialization

We intend to directly market and commercialize our lead product candidate, FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, if approved in the United States, by developing our own sales and marketing force, targeting ENTs and audiologists. Under the Astellas Agreement, Astellas has the right to market and commercialize FX-322 for the treatment of SNHL, if approved, outside of the United States. For any other product candidates that may be approved, we intend to establish marketing and commercialization strategies for each as we approach potential approval, and expect to be able to leverage our then-existing sales and marketing force.

Intellectual property

We strive to protect and enhance the proprietary technology, inventions, and improvements that are commercially important to the development of our business, including by seeking, maintaining, and defending patent rights, whether developed internally or licensed from third parties. We also rely on trade secrets, know-how, continuing technological innovation, and in-licensing opportunities to develop, strengthen, and maintain our proprietary position in our field.

Our future commercial success depends, in part, on our ability to: obtain and maintain patent and other proprietary protection for commercially important technology, inventions, and know-how related to our business; defend and enforce our intellectual property rights, in particular our patent rights; preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets; and operate without infringing, misappropriating, or violating the valid and enforceable patents and proprietary rights of third parties. Our ability to stop third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing products identical or similar to ours may depend on the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents or trade secrets that cover these activities.

 

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The patent positions of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies like ours are generally uncertain and can involve complex legal, scientific, and factual issues. We cannot predict whether the patent applications we are currently pursuing will issue as patents in any particular jurisdiction or whether the claims of any issued patents will provide sufficient proprietary protection from competitors. We also cannot ensure that patents will issue with respect to any patent applications that we or our licensors may file in the future, nor can we ensure that any of our owned or licensed patents or future patents will be commercially useful in protecting our product candidates and methods of manufacturing the same. In addition, the coverage claimed in a patent application may be significantly reduced before a patent is issued, and its scope can be reinterpreted and even challenged after issuance. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any of our products will be protected or remain protectable by enforceable patents. Moreover, any patents that we hold may be challenged, circumvented, or invalidated by third parties. See “Risk factors—Risks related to our intellectual property” for a more comprehensive description of risks related to our intellectual property.

We generally file patent applications directed to our key programs in an effort to secure our intellectual property positions vis-à-vis these programs. As of July 31, 2019, we owned or in-licensed 14 U.S. patents, 23 foreign patents, 17 U.S.-pending, nonprovisional patent applications, 54 foreign-pending patent applications, four pending Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT, applications and 13 U.S.-pending provisional patent applications.

The intellectual property portfolio for our lead programs as of July 31, 2019, are summarized below. Prosecution is a lengthy process, during which the scope of the claims initially submitted for examination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may be significantly narrowed before issuance, if issued at all. We expect this may be the case with respect to some of our pending patent applications referred to below.

Hearing loss

The patent portfolio for our Hearing Loss program is based upon our owned and in-licensed patent families that include patents and patent applications directed generally to compositions of matter, pharmaceutical compositions, and methods of using the same to treat hearing loss; and specifically directed to compositions of matter of our lead product FX-322, pharmaceutical compositions of FX-322 and methods of using the same to treat hearing loss. The in-licensed patents and patent applications are subject to license agreements with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary described herein. As of July 31, 2019, we control, through ownership and in-licensing, 13 U.S. patents, 21 foreign patents, 12 U.S.-pending nonprovisional patent applications, 40 foreign-pending patent applications, two pending PCT applications, and 11 U.S.-pending provisional patent applications for treating hearing loss, both generally and using FX-322. While we believe that the specific and generic claims contained in our issued U.S. patents provide protection for the composition of matter and the method of using FX-322 to treat hearing loss and/or diseases associated with the absence or lack of certain tissue cells, and are not implicated by prior art, third parties may nevertheless challenge such claims in our patents. If any such claims are invalidated or rendered unenforceable for any reason, we will lose valuable intellectual property rights, and our ability to prevent others from competing with us would be impaired. Any U.S. or ex-U.S. patents that may issue from pending applications that we control, if any, for our hearing program, including our lead product FX-322, are projected to have a statutory expiration date in between 2035 and 2040, excluding any additional term for patent term adjustments or patent term extensions, if applicable.

Multiple sclerosis program

We plan to use a similar intellectual property strategy when building protection with respect to other programs. Within our MS program, we have control of a portfolio of intellectual property directed to the treatment of MS,

 

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through ownership and exclusive in-licensing from Scripps. As of July 31, 2019, no development candidate has been designated, but the intellectual property portfolio for our MS research program currently includes one U.S. patent, two foreign patents, three U.S.-pending, nonprovisional patent applications, two foreign patent applications, one pending PCT application, and one U.S.-pending provisional patent application directed to the treatment of MS. While we believe that the specific and generic claims, contained in our U.S. and ex-U.S. patents provide protection for the claimed pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use and are not implicated by invalidating prior art, third parties may nevertheless challenge such claims. If any such claims are invalidated or rendered unenforceable for any reason, we will lose valuable intellectual property rights, and our ability to prevent others from competing with us would be impaired. Any U.S. or ex-U.S. patents that may issue from pending applications that we control, if any, for our MS are projected to have a statutory expiration date in between 2032 and 2039, excluding any additional term for patent term adjustments or patent term extensions, if applicable.

The term of individual patents depends upon the legal term of the patents in the countries in which they are obtained. In most countries in which we file, the patent term is 20 years from the earliest date of filing a non-provisional patent application.

In the United States, the term of a patent covering an FDA-approved drug may, in certain cases, be eligible for a patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act as compensation for the loss of patent term during the FDA regulatory review process. The period of extension may be up to five years, but cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval. Only one patent among those eligible for an extension and only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. Similar provisions are available in Europe and in certain other jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. It is possible that issued U.S. patents covering the use of products from our intellectual property may be entitled to patent term extensions. If our use of drug candidates or the drug candidate itself receive FDA approval, we intend to apply for patent term extensions, if available, to extend the term of patents that cover the approved use or drug candidate. We also intend to seek patent term extensions in any jurisdictions where available, however, there is no guarantee that the applicable authorities, including the FDA, will agree with our assessment of whether such extensions should be granted, and, even if granted, the length of such extensions.

In addition to patent protection, we rely upon unpatented trade secrets and confidential know-how and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our competitive position. However, trade secrets and confidential know-how are difficult to protect. We seek to protect our proprietary information, in part, using confidentiality agreements with any collaborators, scientific advisors, employees and consultants and invention assignment agreements with our employees. We also have agreements requiring assignment of inventions with selected consultants, scientific advisors, and collaborators. These agreements may not provide meaningful protection. These agreements may also be breached, and we may not have an adequate remedy for any such breach. In addition, our trade secrets and/or confidential know-how may become known or be independently developed by a third party, or misused by any collaborator to whom we disclose such information. Despite any measures taken to protect our intellectual property, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or obtain or use information that we regard as proprietary. Although we take steps to protect our proprietary information, third parties may independently develop the same or similar proprietary information or may otherwise gain access to our proprietary information. As a result, we may be unable to meaningfully protect our trade secrets and proprietary information.

Our commercial success will also depend in part on not infringing upon the proprietary rights of third parties. It is uncertain whether the issuance of any third-party patent would require us to alter our development or commercial strategies, or our drugs or processes, obtain licenses, or cease certain activities. Our breach of any license agreements or failure to obtain a license to proprietary rights that we may require to develop or

 

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commercialize our future drugs may have an adverse impact on us. If third parties have prepared and filed patent applications prior to March 16, 2013, in the United States that also claim technology to which we have rights, we may have to participate in interference proceedings in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, to determine priority of inventions. See “Risk factors—Risks related to our intellectual property” for a more comprehensive description of risks related to our intellectual property.

License and collaboration agreements

Astellas Pharma, Inc.

In July 2019, we entered into the Astellas Agreement with Astellas, under which we granted Astellas an exclusive, royalty-bearing, sub-licensable, nontransferable license to certain patent rights to research, develop, manufacture, have manufactured, use, seek and secure regulatory approval for, commercialize, offer for sale, sell, have sold and import, and otherwise exploit licensed products containing both a GSK-3 inhibitor and an HDAC inhibitor, or the Astellas licensed products, including our product candidate FX-322, outside of the United States. We also granted Astellas a right of first negotiation and a right of last refusal if we enter into any negotiation or agreement of any kind (other than an acquisition of all of our stock or assets) with any third party under which such third party would obtain the right to develop, manufacture, or commercialize Astellas licensed products in the United States.

We and Astellas have agreed to jointly develop the Astellas licensed products, including carrying out joint studies. Each party has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to carry out development activities assigned to it under an agreed-upon development plan. Astellas has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain regulatory approval for at least one Astellas licensed product in SNHL and in age-related hearing loss, in each case, in one major Asian country and one major European country. We have agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain regulatory approval for at least one Astellas licensed product in the United States. Astellas has the sole right to commercialize the Astellas licensed products outside of the United States, and we have the sole right to commercialize the Astellas licensed products in the United States. Astellas has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize Astellas licensed products in a major Asian country and a major European country following receipt of regulatory approval in such countries.

As consideration for the licensed rights under the Astellas agreement, Astellas agreed to pay us an upfront payment of $80.0 million, which we received in July 2019, and potential development milestone payments up to $230.0 million. If the Astellas licensed products are successfully commercialized, we would be eligible for up to $315.0 million in potential commercial milestone payments and also tiered royalties at rates ranging from low- to mid-teen percentages.

The Astellas Agreement remains in effect until the expiration of all royalty obligations. Royalties are paid on a licensed product-by-licensed product and country-by-country basis until the latest of (i) the expiration of the last valid claim in the licensed patent rights with respect to such Astellas licensed product in such country or (ii) a set number of years from the first commercial sale of such Astellas licensed product in such country. Astellas may terminate the Astellas Agreement at will upon 60 days’ written notice. Each party has the right to terminate the Astellas Agreement due to the other party’s material breach if such breach remains uncured for 90 days (or 45 days in the case of nonpayment) or if the other party becomes bankrupt.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In December 2016, we entered into an Exclusive Patent License Agreement, or the MIT License, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, under which we received an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-

 

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bearing license to certain patent rights to develop, make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, lease, and import products, or the MIT licensed products, and to develop and perform processes, or the MIT licensed processes, which incorporate the licensed technology for the treatment of disease, including, but not limited to, the prevention and remediation of hearing loss. We also have the right to grant sublicenses under the MIT License. MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital retain the right on behalf of themselves and all other nonprofit research institutions to practice the licensed patent rights for nonclinical research, teaching, and educational purposes.

We are required to use diligent efforts to develop and commercialize the MIT licensed products or processes and to make such products or processes reasonably available to the public. We are also subject to certain development obligations with regards to a first MIT licensed product. We have satisfied certain obligations related to preclinical studies and the filing of an IND for a first MIT licensed product with our development activities related to FX-322. Our future development obligations are: (i) to commence a Phase II clinical trial for such product within two years of the IND filing for such product, (ii) to commence a Phase III clinical trial for such product within five years of the IND filing for such product, (iii) to file a New Drug Application, or NDA, or equivalent with the FDA or comparable European regulatory agency for such product within nine years of the IND filing for such product, and (iv) to make a first commercial sale of such product within 11 years of the IND filing for such product. We also have certain development obligations with regards to a second MIT licensed product. If we fail to meet our development obligations, other than those relating to a second MIT licensed product, MIT may terminate the MIT License. In the event that we have failed to fulfill our development timeline obligation with respect to a second MIT licensed product and fail to cure such breach within 90 days of written notice by MIT, MIT may restrict the licensed field to the prevention and remediation of hearing loss in humans and animals. We do not have the right to control prosecution of the in-licensed patent applications, and our rights to enforce the in-licensed patents are subject to certain limitations.

Upon entering into the MIT License, we paid a $50 thousand license fee payment and issued to MIT shares of our common stock equal to 5% of our then-outstanding capital stock. We are required to pay certain annual license maintenance fees ranging from $30 thousand to $0.1 million per year prior to first commercial sale of a MIT licensed product and an annual license maintenance fee of $0.2 million every year afterwards, which may be credited to running royalties during the same calendar year, if any. We are also required to make potential milestone payments in an aggregate amount of up to $2.9 million on each MIT licensed product or process. In addition, we agreed to pay a low single-digit royalty on the MIT licensed products and processes and a 20% royalty on sub-license revenues.

The MIT License will remain in effect until the expiration or abandonment of all licensed issued patents and filed patent applications, unless terminated earlier. We have the right to terminate for any reason upon three months’ prior written notice. MIT has the right to terminate immediately if we cease to carry on any business related to the MIT License. MIT may also terminate the MIT License for our material breach if such breach remains uncured for 90 days (or 30 days in the case of nonpayment). MIT may also terminate the MIT License if we or our affiliates commence any action against MIT to declare or render any claim of the licensed patent rights invalid, unpatentable, unenforceable, or not infringed, or if our sub-licensee commences such actions and we do not terminate such sub-license within 30 days after MIT’s demand. MIT has the right to increase all payments due by us, instead of terminating the MIT License in the case of a patent challenge.

In May 2019, the MIT License was amended to update the diligence milestones for a second MIT licensed product.

 

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Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

In February 2019, we entered into an Non-Exclusive Patent License Agreement, or the MEEI License, with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, or MEEI, under which we received a non-exclusive, non-sub-licensable, worldwide, royalty-bearing license to certain patent rights to develop, make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, lease and import products and to develop and perform processes that incorporate the licensed technology for the treatment or prevention of hearing loss, or the MEEI licensed products. We are obligated to use diligent efforts to develop and commercialize the MEEI licensed products. We are also subject to milestone timeline obligations to dose a first patient in a Phase II trial by December 31, 2020 and to dose a first patient in a Phase III trial by December 31, 2024. We do not control the filing, prosecution, enforcement, and defense of any licensed patent rights.

Upon entering into the MEEI License, we made a $20 thousand license fee payment. We are obligated to pay certain annual license maintenance fees between $5 thousand and $7.5 thousand per each MEEI patent family case number included in the licensed MEEI patent rights prior to first commercial sale of an MEEI licensed product. We are also obligated to pay a minimum annual royalty payment of $15 thousand per each MEEI patent family case number included in the licensed MEEI patent rights after first commercial sale of an MEEI licensed product. We are also obligated to make milestone payments up to $350 thousand on each product or process that incorporates the licensed patent rights. In addition, we have agreed to pay a low single-digit royalty on products and processes that incorporate the licensed patent rights.

The MEEI License remains in effect until all issued patents and filed patent applications within the licensed patent rights have expired or been abandoned, unless terminated earlier. We have the right to terminate the MEEI License at will by 30 business days’ advance written notice to MEEI. MEEI has the right to terminate the MEEI License (i) if we fail to make any payment due within 30 business days after MEEI notifies us of such failure, (ii) if we fail to maintain required insurance, (iii) upon 45 business days’ written notice if we become insolvent, or (iv) for any other default by us that is not cured within 60 business days of receipt of written notice. MEEI also has the right to terminate if we or our affiliates challenge the validity of the licensed patent rights.

The Scripps Research Institute (California Institute for Biomedical Research)

In September 2018, we entered into a license agreement, or the CALIBR License, with the California Institute for Biomedical Research, or CALIBR, a division of Scripps, under which we received an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license to certain patent rights to make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, and import products, or the CALIBR licensed products, which incorporate licensed technology for the treatment of MS. We also have the right to grant sublicenses under the CALIBR License. CALIBR reserves the right to use for itself and the right to grant nonexclusive licenses to other nonprofit or academic institutions for any internal research and educational purposes.

We have agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop, manufacture, and sell at least one CALIBR licensed product. We are also subject to certain milestone timeline obligations to: (i) submit an IND (or equivalent) for a CALIBR licensed product by the 30th month after the effective date of the CALIBR License, (ii) initiate a Phase II clinical trial (or equivalent) for a CALIBR licensed product by the fourth anniversary of the effective date of the CALIBR License, and (iii) initiate a Phase III clinical trial (or equivalent) for a CALIBR licensed product by the sixth anniversary of the effective date of the CALIBR License. We do not have the right to control prosecution of the in-licensed patent applications, and our rights to enforce the in-licensed patents are subject to certain limitations.

Upon entering into the CALIBR license, we made a $1.0 million license fee payment, and are required to make milestone payments in an aggregate amount of up to $26.0 million for each category of CALIBR licensed

 

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products. Category 1 is any CALIBR licensed products containing a compound that modulates any muscarinic receptor, and Category 2 is any CALIBR licensed products not included in Category 1 that could differentiate oligodendrocyte precursor cells from in vitro studies and/or are active in animal models relevant to MS. We are also required to pay a mid-single-digit royalty on CALIBR licensed products and a royalty on sub-license revenues ranging from a low-teen percentage to 50%.

The CALIBR License continues in effect until expiration of all of our obligations to pay royalties. Royalties are payable by us on a country-by-country and licensed-product-by-licensed product basis upon the later of (i) the expiration or abandonment of all valid claims of the licensed patent rights in such country and (ii) 10 years from the first commercial sale of each CALIBR licensed product in such country. We may terminate the CALIBR License at will upon 30 days’ prior written notice. We may also elect to terminate our license to one or more licensed patents in any or all jurisdictions by giving 90 days’ prior written notice to CALIBR. CALIBR may terminate the CALIBR License for our material breach if such breach remains uncured for 30 days. CALIBR has the right to terminate or reduce the license to a non-exclusive license if we fail to use diligent efforts to develop and commercially exploit CALIBR licensed products.

The Scripps Research Institute

In September 2018, we entered into a Research Funding and Option Agreement, or the Scripps option agreement, with Scripps, under which we were granted an exclusive option to acquire an exclusive, sublicensable, worldwide license under certain intellectual property related to the treatment of MS. If we exercise such option, the CALIBR License shall be amended to include such intellectual property.

As consideration for the Scripps option agreement, we are required to make funding payments totaling $0.7 million to Scripps to support its research activities. Scripps has agreed to use reasonable efforts to perform the research program pursuant to the Scripps option agreement.

The Scripps option agreement shall remain in effect for one year, and may be renewed for a second year by mutual written agreement. We have the right to terminate by giving 90 days’ advance written notice. Scripps has the right to terminate in the event of nonpayment by us that remains uncured for 10 days. Each party has the right to terminate in the event of the other party’s material breach that remains uncured for 60 days or if the other party becomes bankrupt.

Competition

As a clinical-stage biotechnology company, we face competition from a wide array of companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. These include both small companies and large companies with much greater financial and technical resources and far longer operating histories than our own. We also compete with the intellectual property, technology, and product development efforts of academic, governmental, and private research institutions.

Our competitors may have significantly greater financial resources, established presence in the market, expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical and clinical testing, obtaining regulatory approvals and reimbursement, and marketing approved products than we do. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, sales, marketing, and management personnel, establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies.

The key competitive factors affecting the success of any product candidates that we develop, if approved, are likely to be their efficacy, safety, convenience, price, and the availability of reimbursement from government

 

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and other third-party payors. Our commercial opportunity for any of our product candidates could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient, or are less expensive than any products that we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, and may commercialize products more quickly than we are able to.

We are aware of the following competitors in the areas that we are initially targeting:

Hearing loss

We expect FX-322 to compete with hearing aids and cochlear implants. There are dozens of hearing aid brands, although approximately 80% of these devices are manufactured by four leading companies. There are three manufacturers of cochlear implants that market in the United States. We are also aware of two companies with potential therapies to regenerate hair cells currently in clinical trials. Novartis is conducting a Phase 1/2 trial of an adenovirus-based gene therapy, and Audion Therapeutics is recruiting patients for its Phase 2 study of its notch inhibitor, LY3056480. There are also multiple programs in early-stage or preclinical development by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. In addition, there are several companies with programs to regrow neurons in the cochlea to treat hearing loss, and companies developing otoprotective therapies, which are intended to reduce damage to hair cells.

Multiple sclerosis

There are multiple therapeutic options for treating the symptoms of MS, as well as the underlying disease. We are aware of numerous efforts to identify drugs or biologics that can stimulate oligodendrocyte regeneration and myelin repair in the central nervous system. Acorda Therapeutics has conducted two Phase 1 trials of its monoclonal antibody rHIgM22 in MS patients, and Convelo Therapeutics is developing potential remyelinating compounds that inhibit enzymes in the brain involved in the production of cholesterol for which they plan to begin clinical trials in 2019.

Government regulation

The FDA and comparable regulatory authorities in state and local jurisdictions and in other countries impose substantial and burdensome requirements upon companies involved in the clinical development, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of drugs, such as those we are developing. These agencies and other federal, state, and local entities regulate, among other things, the research and development, testing, manufacture, quality control, safety, effectiveness, labeling, storage, record keeping, approval, advertising and promotion, distribution, post-approval monitoring and reporting, sampling, and export and import of our product candidates.

U.S. drug development process

In the United States, the FDA regulates drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, and its implementing regulations. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate federal, state, local, and foreign statutes and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process, or after approval, may subject an applicant to a variety of administrative or judicial sanctions, such as the FDA’s refusal to approve pending NDAs, withdrawal of an approval, imposition of a clinical hold, issuance of warning letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement, or civil or criminal penalties.

 

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The process required by the FDA before a drug may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:

 

 

completion of preclinical laboratory tests, animal studies, and formulation studies in compliance with the FDA’s good laboratory practice, or GLP, regulations;

 

 

submission to the FDA of an IND, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin;

 

 

approval by an independent institutional review board, or IRB, at each clinical site before each trial may be initiated;

 

 

performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials in accordance with good clinical practice, or GCP, requirements to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug product for each indication;

 

 

submission to the FDA of an NDA;

 

 

satisfactory completion of an FDA advisory committee review, if applicable;

 

 

satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities at which the product is produced to assess compliance with current good manufacturing practice, or cGMP, requirements, and to assure that the facilities, methods, and controls are adequate to preserve the drug’s identity, strength, quality, and purity;

 

 

FDA review and approval of the NDA, including consideration of the views of any FDA advisory committee, prior to commercial marketing or sale of the drug in the United States; and

 

 

compliance with any post-approval requirements, including the potential requirement to implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, or to conduct a post-approval study.

Preclinical studies

Preclinical studies include laboratory evaluation of product chemistry, toxicity, and formulation, as well as animal studies to assess potential safety and efficacy. An IND sponsor must submit the results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data, and any available clinical data or literature, among other things, to the FDA as part of an IND. Some preclinical testing may continue even after the IND is submitted. An IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless before that time the FDA raises concerns or questions related to one or more proposed clinical trials and places the clinical trial on a clinical hold. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin. Clinical holds also may be imposed by the FDA at any time before or during clinical trials due to safety concerns about on-going or proposed clinical trials or noncompliance with specific FDA requirements, and the trials may not begin or continue until the FDA notifies the sponsor that the hold has been lifted. As a result, submission of an IND may not result in the FDA allowing clinical trials to commence.

Clinical trials

Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational new drug to human subjects under the supervision of qualified investigators in accordance with GCP requirements, which include the requirement that all research subjects provide their informed consent in writing for their participation in any clinical trial. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the trial, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety, and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. A protocol for each clinical trial and any subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. In addition, an IRB at each institution participating in the clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial before it

 

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commences at that institution. Information about certain clinical trials must be submitted within specific time frames to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, for public dissemination on their www.clinicaltrials.gov website.

Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases, which may overlap or be combined:

 

 

Phase 1: The drug is initially introduced into healthy human subjects or patients with the target disease or condition and tested for safety, dosage tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution, excretion, and, if possible, to gain an early indication of its effectiveness.

 

 

Phase 2: The drug is administered to a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy of the product for specific targeted diseases, and to determine dosage tolerance and optimal dosage.

 

 

Phase 3: The drug is administered to an expanded patient population, generally at geographically dispersed clinical trial sites, in well-controlled clinical trials to generate enough data to statistically evaluate the efficacy and safety of the product for approval, to establish the overall risk-benefit profile of the product, and to provide adequate information for the labeling of the product.

The FDA or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the drug has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients. In addition, some clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or committee. Depending on its charter, this group may determine whether a trial may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the trial.

Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal studies, and must also develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the drug, and finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate, and, among other things, the manufacturer must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, and purity of the final drug. In addition, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.

Progress reports detailing the results of the clinical trials must be submitted at least annually to the FDA, and more frequently if serious adverse events occur. Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 clinical trials may not be completed successfully within any specified period, or at all. There are also requirements governing the reporting of ongoing clinical trials and completed trial results to public registries.

Marketing approval

Assuming successful completion of the required clinical testing, the results of the preclinical and clinical studies, together with detailed information relating to the product’s chemistry, manufacture, controls, and proposed labeling, among other things, are submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA requesting approval to market the product for one or more indications. In most cases, the submission of an NDA is subject to a substantial application user fee. Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, guidelines that are currently in effect, the FDA has a goal of ten months from the date of “filing” of a standard NDA for a new molecular entity to review and act on the submission. This review typically takes 12 months from the date the NDA is submitted to the FDA because the FDA has approximately two months to make a “filing” decision.

 

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Specifically, the FDA conducts a preliminary review of all NDAs within the first 60 days after submission, before accepting them for filing, to determine whether they are sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. The FDA may request additional information rather than accept an NDA for filing. In this event, the application must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application is also subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing. Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth substantive review. The FDA reviews an NDA to determine, among other things, whether the drug is safe and effective and whether the facility in which it is manufactured, processed, packaged, or held meets standards designed to assure the product’s continued safety, quality, and purity.

The FDA also may require submission of a REMS plan to ensure that the benefits of the drug outweigh its risks. The REMS plan could include medication guides, physician communication plans, assessment plans, and/or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries, or other risk minimization tools.

The FDA may refer an application for a novel drug to an advisory committee. An advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific experts, that reviews, evaluates, and provides a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions.

Before approving an NDA, the FDA typically will inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP requirements and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA may inspect one or more clinical trial sites to assure compliance with GCP requirements.

After evaluating the NDA and all related information, including the advisory committee recommendation, if any, and inspection reports regarding the manufacturing facilities and clinical trial sites, the FDA may issue an approval letter, or, in some cases, a complete response letter. A complete response letter generally contains a statement of specific conditions that must be met in order to secure final approval of the NDA, and may require additional clinical or preclinical testing in order for the FDA to reconsider the application. Even with submission of this additional information, the FDA ultimately may decide that the application does not satisfy the regulatory criteria for approval. If and when those conditions have been met to the FDA’s satisfaction, the FDA will typically issue an approval letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with specific prescribing information for specific indications.

Even if the FDA approves a product, it may limit the approved indications for use of the product, require that contraindications, warnings, or precautions be included in the product labeling, require that post-approval studies, including Phase 4 clinical trials, be conducted to further assess a drug’s safety after approval, require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the product after commercialization, or impose other conditions, including distribution and use restrictions or other risk management mechanisms under a REMS, which can materially affect the potential market and profitability of the product. The FDA may prevent or limit further marketing of a product based on the results of post-marketing studies or surveillance programs. After approval, some types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications, manufacturing changes, and additional labeling claims, are subject to further testing requirements and FDA review and approval.

The Pediatric Research Equity Act, or PREA, requires a sponsor to conduct pediatric clinical trials for most drugs, for a new active ingredient, new indication, new dosage form, new dosing regimen, or new route of administration. Under PREA, original NDAs and supplements must contain a pediatric assessment unless the sponsor has received a deferral or waiver. The required assessment must evaluate the safety and effectiveness

 

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of the product for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations and support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is safe and effective. The sponsor or the FDA may request a deferral of pediatric clinical trials for some or all of the pediatric subpopulations. A deferral may be granted for several reasons, including a finding that the drug is ready for approval for use in adults before pediatric clinical trials are complete or that additional safety or effectiveness data needs to be collected before the pediatric clinical trials begin. The FDA must send a noncompliance letter to any sponsor that fails to submit the required assessment, keep a deferral current, or fails to submit a request for approval of a pediatric formulation.

FDA-expedited development and review programs

The FDA has various programs, including fast track designation, accelerated approval priority review, and breakthrough therapy designation, which are intended to expedite or simplify the process for the development and the FDA review of drugs that are intended for the treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs. The purpose of these programs is to provide important new drugs to patients earlier than under standard FDA review procedures.

To be eligible for a fast track designation, the FDA must determine, based on the request of a sponsor, that a product is intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and demonstrates the potential to address an unmet medical need. The FDA will determine that a product will fill an unmet medical need if it will provide a therapy where none exists or provide a therapy that may be potentially superior to existing therapy based on efficacy or safety factors. The FDA may review sections of the NDA for a fast track product on a rolling basis before the complete application is submitted, if the sponsor provides a schedule for the submission of the sections of the NDA, the FDA agrees to accept sections of the NDA and determines that the schedule is acceptable, and the sponsor pays any required user fees upon submission of the first section of the NDA.

The FDA may give a priority review designation to drugs that offer major advances in treatment, or provide a treatment where no adequate therapy exists. A priority review means that the goal for the FDA to review an application is six months, rather than the standard review of 10 months under current PDUFA guidelines. Under the new PDUFA agreement, these six- and 10-month review periods are measured from the “filing” date rather than the receipt date for NDAs for new molecular entities, which typically adds approximately two months to the timeline for review and decision from the date of submission. Most products that are eligible for fast track designation are also likely to be considered appropriate to receive a priority review.

In addition, products studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments may be eligible for accelerated approval and may be approved on the basis of adequate and well-controlled clinical trials establishing that the drug product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit, or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality, that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity, or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of approval, the FDA may require a sponsor of a drug receiving accelerated approval to perform post-marketing studies to verify and describe the predicted effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical endpoint, and the drug may be subject to accelerated withdrawal procedures.

Moreover, under the provisions of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, or FDASIA, passed in July 2012, a sponsor can request designation of a product candidate as a “breakthrough therapy.” A breakthrough therapy is defined as a drug that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant

 

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endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. Drugs designated as breakthrough therapies are also eligible for accelerated approval. The FDA must take certain actions, such as holding timely meetings and providing advice, intended to expedite the development and review of an application for approval of a breakthrough therapy. The designation includes all of the benefits of a fast track designation. The breakthrough therapy designation is a distinct status from both accelerated approval and priority review, which can also be granted to the same drug if relevant criteria are met.

Even if a product qualifies for one or more of these programs, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened. Furthermore, fast track designation, priority review, and breakthrough therapy designation do not change the standards for approval, but may expedite the development or approval process. We may explore some of these opportunities for our product candidates as appropriate.

Post-approval requirements

Drugs manufactured or distributed pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements relating to recordkeeping, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, advertising and promotion, and reporting of adverse experiences with the product. After approval, most changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications or other labeling claims, are subject to prior FDA review and approval. There also are continuing, annual user fee requirements for any marketed products and the establishments at which such products are manufactured, as well as new application fees for supplemental applications with clinical data.

The FDA may impose a number of post-approval requirements as a condition of approval of an NDA. For example, the FDA may require post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and surveillance to further assess and monitor the product’s safety and effectiveness after commercialization.

In addition, drug manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved drugs are required to register their establishments with the FDA and state and local agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by government agencies for compliance with cGMP and other requirements. Changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated and often require prior FDA approval before being implemented. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP requirements and impose reporting and documentation requirements upon the sponsor and any third-party manufacturers that the sponsor may decide to use. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain cGMP compliance.

Once an approval is granted, the FDA may withdraw the approval if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in mandatory revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-market studies or clinical trials to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:

 

 

restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, complete withdrawal of the product from the market or product recalls;

 

 

safety alerts, Dear Healthcare Provider letters, press releases, or other communications containing warning or other safety information about the product;

 

 

fines, warning letters, or holds on post-approval clinical trials;

 

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refusal of the FDA to approve pending NDAs or supplements to approved NDAs, or suspension or revocation of product approvals;

 

 

product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of products; or

 

 

injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

The FDA strictly regulates marketing, labeling, advertising, and promotion of products that are placed on the market. Drugs may be promoted only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability.

In addition, the distribution of prescription pharmaceutical products is subject to the Prescription Drug Marketing Act, or PDMA, which regulates the distribution of drugs and drug samples at the federal level, and sets minimum stand